Timely Utterances

As Labour Day marks another day of meetings on sustainable development for the UN’s Rio+20, I had the good fortune to encounter a quote that is relevant to all multilateral negotiations and probably most human communications:

“Not everything we know can be disclosed.
Not everything that can be disclosed can be considered a timely utterance.
Not every timely utterance can be considered suitable to the capacity of the listener.”
Baha’i writing

In the coming nine months, the negotiations will grapple with ambitious goals, financial realities, and national priorities. Selecting the topics where progress can be made is the art every contributor must learn – on a timely basis.