Words Good and Bad

Ὁ γὰρ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν. Ζητήσωμεν οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου τροφὴν εἰς πλήρωσιν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν. Δικαιος γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐσθίων, ἐμπίπλησι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, ἵνα κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν ὦν τρεφόμεθα, οὐ τὸν τυχόντα λόγον, ἀλλὰ ἀγαθὸν ἀναπέμπωμεν. Ὁ γὰρ πονηρὸς ἄνθρωπος, ὑπὸ μοχθηρῶν δογμάτων ἀνατραφεὶς, ἐξεοεύγεται τῇ καρδίᾳ λόγον πονηρόν. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὁποῖα τὰ στόματα τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀπερεύγεται; ὡς χαλεπὰ καὶ δυσώδη, πολλήν τινα τὴν ἐν τῷ βάθει νόσον τῶν ἀθλίων κατηγοροῦντα; Ὁ γὰρ πονηρὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ πονηρόν θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ προφέρει τὸ πονηρόν. Μὴ δὴ οὖν, κνηθόμενος τὴν ἀκοήν, ἐπισωρεύσῃς σεαυτῷ διδασκάλους, νόσον ἐνεργάσασθαι τοῖς σπλάγχνοις σου δυναμένους, καὶ πονηρῶν σοι ῥημὰτων ἐρυγὴν προξενῆσαι, δι' ὦν μέλλεις ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως καταδικάζεσθαι. Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν λόγων σου, φησὶ, δικαιωθήσῃ, καὶ ἐκ τῶν λόγων σου καταδικασθήσῃ Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΔ' Ψαλμον

For the good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth good. 1  Let us seek then from the word nourishment, that we fill our souls. For the righteous man, it is said, when he eats shall fill his soul, 2 and so according to the analogy of nourishment, let it not be just any word, but a good word that we send forth. For the evil man, nourished on depraved teachings, from his heart bursts forth depravity. Do you not see how the mouths of heretics belch forth? How heavy, how fetid, how it indicates the sickness within of a wretched heart? For the evil man from the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. Do not, then, have prurient ears, taking to yourself teachers who have a sickness reigning within them which in you creates a flood of wicked words, on account of which on the day of judgement you shall be condemned. He says: From your words you shall be justified and from your words condemned. 1   Saint Basil of Caesarea, from Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 44 1  Mt 12. 35 2 Prov 13. 23