Sirach 21:17-28: in context

Sirach draws a series of contrasts between the wise and the foolish, and several concern speech. A fool lifts up his voice with laughter, but a clever man barely smiles. And most pointedly: the heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in their heart. The fool blurts out whatever is in his heart without thought, his words tumbling out unconsidered; but the wise keeps his mouth in his heart, thinking and weighing before he speaks, so that his words are measured and considered.

The contrast, the heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in their heart, captures a difference in how people speak. The fool's heart is in his mouth: whatever he thinks or feels comes out at once, unfiltered, unconsidered, blurted without weighing. The wise person's mouth is in his heart: his words are held first in his heart, thought over, weighed, considered, before they are spoken. The fool speaks first and thinks later, if at all; the wise think first and speak with measure. This searches the way we handle our words. Much trouble comes from impulsive speech, blurting out whatever comes to mind without thought, saying things in haste that we later regret, letting our unconsidered reactions tumble out. Sirach commends the opposite: to hold our words in our heart, to think before we speak, to weigh what we are about to say, so that our words are measured and considered rather than impulsive. Do you see a man hasty in his words, the proverb asks; there is more hope for a fool than for him. Hasty, unconsidered speech is a mark of folly; measured, thoughtful speech, of wisdom. This calls us to think before we speak, holding our words in our heart rather than blurting them out. In many words, the proverb says, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. The one who speaks with measure, weighing his words, restraining the impulse to blurt out everything, avoids much of the trouble that hasty speech brings and speaks words that are considered and wise. Let everyone, James says, be swift to hear, slow to speak; the slowness to speak is the wisdom of thinking before we speak. This calls us to measured, considered speech rather than impulsive blurting. Sirach contrasts the fool, whose heart is in his mouth, blurting out everything unconsidered, with the wise, whose mouth is in his heart, thinking before speaking; and we are called to the wisdom of holding our words in our heart, weighing them before we speak, rather than the folly of impulsive blurting. Let us think before we speak, considering our words and restraining the hasty impulse to say whatever comes to mind, so that our speech is measured and wise rather than the unconsidered blurting that brings trouble, keeping our mouth in our heart as the wise do, rather than our heart in our mouth as the fool does.

Do I speak impulsively, blurting out whatever comes to mind without thought, letting my unconsidered reactions tumble out and saying things in haste that I later regret, and can Sirach's contrast, that the heart of fools is in their mouth but the mouth of the wise is in their heart, move me to think before I speak, holding my words in my heart and weighing them before I utter them, so that my speech is measured and considered rather than the hasty blurting that marks folly and brings trouble?