I have this great shirt with three lovely poison dart frogs on it: one is covering its eyes, one is covering its ears, and one is covering its mouth. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
I want these frogs tattood on my body. (I think i do anyway, but that’s another story.)
Anyway, I was wondering if this whole “see/hear/speak no evil” thing has a negative or a positive connotation.
Does it generally mean that the person (or the frogs, or whatever) looks away when they see evil things going on, and just pretends that they do not exist (bad thing)? Or does the person (or frog) not see any evil because they dont want any evil to exist, or something else (something else that would be a good thing)?
What, generally, does the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil thing mean?
I’ve always taken the saying to mean something along the lines of “look for the best in others, share only your best with others,” but that’s just my opinion. Plus, I’m in a reasonably good mood today for some reason.
That’ll get you started, at least. A search for ‘see hear speak no evil’ gave me the name of the monkeys (Mizaru (see no evil), Kikazaru (hear no evil), and Mazaru (speak no evil) ), but there’s a lot more out there.
I always remember Bob Dole’s quip, when seeing 3 ex-presidents standing together, Ford, Carter and Nixon. “Look, there’s see no evil, hear no evil, and evil!”
KneadToKnow, I think that is an awesome way to think of the see/hear/speak no evil thing. Very very just lovely. I am glad to know that there are happy interpretations.
chique, you sources are also very lovely, but the meanings worry me. One site said it was something that people who didnt want to be involved would use, and the other was talking about prudence and modesty. Neither of which is very “me.”
And Qadgop the Mercotan, I like your qoute : ) (even though it makes me feel bad for Nixon).
So thank you, fellow Dopers. Any other Dopers out there want to chime in?
Hey, don’t forget about the Fourth Monkey (name unknown). This one’s crouching at the end of the line, with his hands cupped over his, ah, jewels. He represents, “Do no evil.” Some say it’s, “Have no fun.” Take your pick.
