The 10th Step: Artfulness in Speech
In order to do good deeds to one's best ability, one must prepare ourselves as follows:
1) Seeking and acquiring more knowledge.
2) Training oneself to be a capable individual (Artfulness).
3) One's wisdom and ability must be supervised by discipline.
Physical ability to perform any task can be described as "handicraft." Another, more refined, ability is known as "artful speech."
Whoever can develop artful speech has the potential to do more good deeds for the benefits of the world than one with only physical ability.
For instance, Buddhism has been verbally passed down for over 2,500 years. This is due to the artful speech of virtuous people from the past. Their verbal ability has transformed society by training people to be good, moral citizens. This kind of speech is called the artfulness in speech.
