As much and as little as possible

Birbal had a young daughter who was very smart, just like her father. One day his little daughter went with him to the palace, and Akbar, just to have some fun, asked her, "Do you know how to talk?"

She was only a little child, but she said, "Yes, I know how to talk much, and I know how to talk little."

The Emperor said, "What is this? How to talk much, and how to talk little? How do you do that?"

The little girl answered, "When I speak to my superiors I speak little, and when I speak to my inferiors I speak much."

"Why do you do that?" asked the Emperor.

The Minister's daughter replied, "From my superiors I learn. So when I speak to them, I speak as little as possible and listen as much as I can. But when I speak to my little brother, I speak as much as possible, because he does not know anything. He has to learn from me."

This was the child's wisdom.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Moghul Emperors, Agni Press, 2001
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/me