[356] 3. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus!" "Venerable sir," those bhikkhus replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:
"Bhikkhus, speech endowed with four factors is well spoken (subhāsitā), not badly spoken; it is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise. With which four? Here [a bhikkhu] speaks only what is well spoken, not what is badly spoken; he speaks only what is Dhamma, not what is not Dhamma; he speaks only what is pleasing, not what is displeasing; he speaks only what is true, not what is false. Bhikkhus, speech endowed with these four factors is well spoken, not badly spoken; it is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise."
This is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Well-Farer (Sugata), the Teacher, further said this:
"The good say that what is well spoken is supreme;
one should speak Dhamma, not what is not Dhamma — that is the second;
one should speak what is pleasing, not what is displeasing — that is the third;
one should speak what is true, not what is false — that is the fourth."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.