Talk fills our lives. With talk we make promises, express desires, do business, build (or destroy) friendships. Yet for all the importance and pervasiveness of talk, we never receive any formal training in the ethics of talk. We learn grammar and take speech classes, but do we ever learn how to know good talk from bad, how to hold our tongue or how to offer a gracious word in season? In Sticks and Stones William Baker explores the power of speech, identifies "sins of speech", shows how we can learn to speak with grace and even illuminates the practice of prayer, our regular talk with God. A book for everyone with the gift of speech and the desire to use it responsibly.