"That's true." — The choice not to respond to what is said

*This article is approximately 960 characters long.

[Introduction]

Is there any need to react to those words?

Words are strange things;
until the receiver gives them meaning, they are nothing more than sound.

Whether it is an insult, a criticism, or simply ignorance.

That is why, at times, one should ask this:

Is this statement worth responding to?

[Chapter 1]

That person was a stranger

One day in June a few years ago, a person I had just met suddenly said to me:

"There's no way someone like you would be taken seriously by her."

I felt no surprise.

I just thought it was interesting.

Because she knew nothing.

She knew nothing about me, my past, or my relationship with that person.

Yet she spoke with certainty despite knowing nothing.

That is not conversation; it is violence.

It is an intrusion into a relationship, disguised as words.

[Chapter 2]

If you correct them, you get dragged in

I could have retorted on the spot.

I could have said, "Actually, that's not the case..." and explained the circumstances to clear up the misunderstanding.

But that would be acknowledging their narrative as"worthy of correction."The moment I responded, the situation would turn into

"dialogue."A stage for debating right and wrong would be set, and I would become a member of that play.I absolutely did not want that.

[Chapter 3]

The strategy of smiling and ending it

I just smiled and said,

"That's true."

That was all.
I didn't argue. I didn't deny it. I didn't show emotion.

I simply pretended that their words had meaning and silently brought down the curtain.

This was not self-defense.

It was a declaration that "this conversation is already over."

[Chapter 4]

The boundary of not responding

If I had responded, I might have been able to break them.

But that was no longer what I wanted to do.

Perhaps that is what it means to be an adult.

To see through the shallowness behind someone's words and intentionally choose silence.

To protect one's own dignity without pointing out the other's ignorance.

That was not running away; it was a choice.

If what a person says is a measure of their intelligence,

then what they choose not to say is a measure of their character.

And I believe it is the job of reason to determine the balance between the two.

Furthermore, regardless of the situation, showing one's bad mood to others is a sign of immaturity.

[Final Chapter]

For words that have no right to be spoken, there is the freedom not to respond

People have the freedom to speak about their own lives.

However, when making assertions about the lives of others --

that speech carries responsibility.

At that time, I encountered words that did not bear that responsibility.

So, I said nothing in return.

"Of course it is."

Those words were a rejection disguised as agreement.

And, a severance through silence.

There was no need to say anything more.

That alone was enough.

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