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Quotations about Speaking
Learn to hold your tongue, and you will be in all languages, fluent, and on all topics, wiser than most. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
Refrain from uprooting your thoughts and flinging them into language; let be, they may grow fruit. ~Henry Stanley Haskins, "Thought," Meditations in Wall Street, 1940
...to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A Fool may talk, but a Wise Man speaks... ~Ben Jonson
He has achieved a high measure of self-mastery who controls the invisible conduit extending from his ear to his tongue. ~L. J. Muir, Muir's Thesaurus of Truths: A Volume of Master Quotations Arranged in Symposia, Selected and Classified by Leo J. Muir and Geo. Muir, Jr., 1937
The man's oratory could kill flies in midair... ~Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind, 2001, translated from Spanish by Lucia Graves, 2004
Watch your own speech, and notice how it is guided by your less conscious purposes... ~George Eliot, "Borne Along by the Tide," The Mill on the Floss, 1860
If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it. ~Author unknown, 1940s
It's often very expensive to think out loud. ~Minna Thomas Antrim (1861–1950), Knocks Witty, Wise and —, 1905
Their conversation is like a gently wicked dance.... we watch their faces, their hands, their feet, and listen for truth in timbre. ~Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, 1970
An energy crisis will never stop motor-mouths. ~Raven's Ravings, c.1979
Of those who say nothing, few are silent. ~Thomas Neill, as quoted in Robert Byrne, The Fifth and Far Finer than the First Four 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, 1993
I like to think of myself as a finely-aged wine, and one thing that keeps a wine finely-aged is to put a cork in it. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid. ~Author unknown [This thought and partial phrase goes back at least to the 1800s, but this particular wording is from the early 1970s.
If the Fool said naught whatever
He would be no Fool, but Clever.
~Arthur Guiterman, "Of Pretence," A Poet's Proverbs, 1924
Well, putting things candidly (as I generally do when nothing is to be gained by putting them otherwise)... ~John Hill, The Waters of Marah, 1883
The true genius shudders at incompleteness — imperfection — and usually prefers silence to saying the something which is not everything that should be said. ~Edgar Allan Poe
And don't talk too fast — you may say something you haven't thought of yet. ~Charles B. Thomsen
When you say a really good thing, stop. ~"Poor Richard Junior's Philosophy," The Saturday Evening Post, 1903, George Horace Lorimer, editor
The easiest way to save face is to keep the lower half shut. ~Strictly for Laughs, by Joey Adams, 1955
The teeth form a barrier to check wanton words. ~Aulus Gellius
Don't argue; the best argument has one weakness: it admits of reply. ~"Poor Richard Junior's Philosophy," The Saturday Evening Post, 1908, George Horace Lorimer, editor
She resumed speaking, after a pause that testified eloquently to the depth of her emotion... ~Eugene Field, "The Mouse and the Moonbeam," 1888 [Mauve Mouse, sister of Squeaknibble. A little altered.
Silence iz one ov the hardest arguments to refute. ~Josh Billings, "Affurisms: Mollassis Kandy"
Foolishness always results when the tongue outraces the brain. ~Author unknown
Who answers Evil Speaking with a Flood
Of Evil Speech, would wash off Dirt with Mud.
~Arthur Guiterman, "Of Evil-Speaking," A Poet's Proverbs, 1924
Many talk as easily as they breathe, and with quite as little thought. ~James Lendall Basford (1845–1915), Sparks from the Philosopher's Stone, 1882
The words you choose to say something are just as important as the decision to speak. ~Author unknown
Saying the wrong thing is misfortune; but trying to explain it is disaster. ~"Poor Richard Junior's Philosophy," The Saturday Evening Post, 1903, George Horace Lorimer, editor
Among provocations the next best thing to good preaching is bad preaching. I have even more thoughts during or enduring it than at other times. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837
Free speech is a blessing to men, without it no race can advance; but talkers should pause now and then, and give other fellows a chance. ~Walt Mason (1862–1939), "The Poor Listener"
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. ~Publilius Syrus
Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths. ~Author unknown
Men talk little when vanity does not prompt them. ~François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
Don't try to manage a cup of coffee, a sandwich and a piece of pie and the word 'insurmountable' at the same time. It can't be did. ~Percy Keese Fitzhugh, Roy Blakeley: Lost, Strayed or Stolen, 1921
A profound man thinks more easily than he talks; a shallow one talks more easily than he thinks. ~James Lendall Basford (1845–1915), Sparks from the Philosopher's Stone, 1882
Lucy put out her hand as if to ward his words away... ~Florence Bone (1875–1971), The Morning of To‑Day, 1907
An inability to remain quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind. ~Walter Bagehot
It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it. ~Maurice Switzer, 1906 [QuoteInvestigator.com
Many preachers shine in the pulpit who lose their brilliancy in common conversation. ~James Lendall Basford (1845–1915), Sparks from the Philosopher's Stone, 1882
And always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood... ~Karl Popper, "A Long Digression Concerning Essentialism: What Still Divides Me from Most Contemporary Philosophers," 1974
If something goes without saying, let it. ~Author unknown, 1960s
I'm not a dull speaker, I'm a bad speaker, I'm a wretched speaker. The tape of my unprepared speech differs from my written prose as much as the worm differs from the perfect insect — or, as I once put it, I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child.... My hemmings and hawings over the telephone cause long-distance callers to switch from their native English to pathetic French. At parties, if I attempt to entertain people with a good story, I have to go back to every other sentence for oral erasures and inserts. Even the dream I describe to my wife across the breakfast table is only a first draft. In these circumstances nobody should ask me to submit to an interview if by "interview" a chat between two normal human beings is implied. ~Vladimir Nabokov [This is not actually a full quotation that you will find anywhere. It is a mash-up from two different sources but both by Nabokov, part from a 1977 BBC interview with Robert Robinson and the remainder from Nabokov's 1973 foreword to Strong Opinions. They do, however, share an overlapping sentence. And this, my dear Mr Nabokov, fits my INFJ personality to a T!
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker... A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker. ~Chuang Tzŭ: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer, "Hsü Wu Kuei," translated from the Chinese by Herbert A. Giles, 1889
Don't tell your Friends about your Indigestion:
"How are you!" is a Greeting, not a Question.
~Arthur Guiterman, 1920
Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled. ~Horace
Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence. ~Spanish proverb
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. ~Will Durant
Fie, what a spendthrift is he of his tongue! ~William Shakespeare
As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
The man was on his knees, trying to retrieve each of his ugly words that were now scattered on the floor. But, of course, it was too late. ~Dr. SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com
Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact—from calling on us to look through a heap of millet-seed in order to be sure that there is no pearl in it. ~George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such, 1879
Let papers speak and beards be silent. ~Spanish proverb
Calvin: Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we can speak.
Hobbes: Probably so we can think twice.
~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes, 1995
Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger. ~Chinese proverb
Does it seem sometimes that you are always the one to break an embarrassing silence — and always by saying something more embarrassing than the silence? ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
Never miss a good chance to shut up. ~Will Rogers (1879–1935)
The attitude, the tone, is all. Let our eyes not look away, but meet. Let us not look east and west for materials of conversation, but rest in presence and unity. A just feeling will fast enough supply fuel for discourse, if speaking be more grateful than silence. When people come to see us, we foolishly prattle, lest we be inhospitable. But things said for conversation are chalk eggs. Don't say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. A lady of my acquaintance said, "I don't care so much for what they say as I do for what makes them say it." The main point is to throw yourself on the truth... ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Social Aims"
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument, an exchange of ignorance. ~Robert Quillen
Mr. Coolidge, at times, "withdraws" into silence almost as a turtle draws back into his shell... One story tells of a bet made between two men, one of whom was to sit next to the President at a large dinner, that he would not say three words during the entire meal. Towards the end of the evening, getting desperate because Mr. Coolidge had not yet spoken at all, the man next him told of the bet, ending: "He bet ten dollars you wouldn't say three words, but I bet you would." Mr. Coolidge, according to the story, considered the matter for some moments, then turned a little towards his companion. "You lose," he said. ~Myron M. Stearns, "Gentlemen, the President! A Study of Calvin Coolidge," 1925
There is never an embarrassing silence that can't be turned into a regrettable conversation. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
The difference between a smart man and a wise man is that a smart man knows what to say, and a wise man knows whether or not to say it. ~Frank M. Garafola, as quoted in The Reader's Digest, 1994
You know how sometimes the last sentence you said, like, echoes in your brain, and it just keeps sounding stupider? And you have to say something else just to make it stop? ~My
I just wish my mouth had a backspace key. ~Author unknown
No man would listen to you talk if he didn't know it was his turn next. ~E. W. Howe, 1910
You don't suppose that my remarks made at this table are like so many postage-stamps, do you, — each to be only once uttered? If you do, you are mistaken. He must be a poor creature who does not often repeat himself. Imagine the author of the excellent piece of advice, "Know thyself," never alluding to that sentiment again during the course of a protracted existence! Why, the truths a man carries about with him are his tools; and do you think a carpenter is bound to use the same plane but once to smooth a knotty board with, or to hang up his hammer after it has driven its first nail? I shall never repeat a conversation, but an idea often. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand. ~Author unknown, as quoted in Robert Byrne, The 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said, 1982
Never argue with a fool — onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. ~W. Gilmore Simms, Egeria, 1853, and anonymous sign from the early 1960s [
When you are arguing with a fool just remember the fool is doing the same thing. ~"Idle Thoughts of an Idle Thinker," Collier's, 1904 [By the 1960s, the phrase had evolved to: "When you are arguing with a fool, make sure he isn't doing the same thing."
Oh, the things that go through my mind that I never say. Oh, the things I say that never go through my mind. ~Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. ~Ernest Hemingway, as quoted in A. E. Hotchner, The Good Life According to Hemingway, 2008
...Shall I go on?
Or have I said enough?...
~John Milton, "Comus, A Mask"
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Last saved 2022 Mar 28 Mon 10:26 PDT