When people get together they are never silent for a moment. They will always talk. When you listen to what they say, a great deal of it is pointless. There is much harm and little good for either party in such worldly gossip and judgement of others. But as they talk, they are unaware of how futile for both of them this chatter is.
— Kenkô, Essays in Idleness, #164, translated by Meredith McKinney
