As a foreign policy, Mr. Roosevelt's statement is sound. The Hebrew word Solomon used, translated in our text as soft, is rak . It is well expressed by the English word fury. Solomon is saying that responding in a gentle tone turns away wrath, cools the heat, calms the fury. It means an earthen vessel, toil or pang.
Grievous words are words that cut, words that inflict wounds.
Such words, Solomon tells us, stir up anger. The truth revealed in our text is one that we can easily observe in our own lives and in our modern world. Soft, quiet words, gentle tones, have a soothing, calming effect on the person who has exploded in a fury. Grievous words, cutting, wound-inflicting words, insults, cause their target to become angry. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.