A preacher once took a tube of toothpaste and squeezed it all out into a small glass. He then asked his volunteer – a young boy – to try and put the toothpaste back in the tube again. Impossible! You can’t do it: the paste will not go back in the tube. Likewise, said the preacher, when you gossip or break a confidence: it’s impossible to take things back again. Gossip is like the toothpaste: once you have spilled it out you can’t put it back again!