A silent mouth is melodious.
—Irish Proverb
The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
Sticks and stones are hard on bones.
Aimed with angry art,
Words can sting like anything
But silence breaks the heart.
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–78) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Writer of Children’s Books
A person that would secure to himself great deference will, perhaps, gain his point by silence as effectually as by anything he can say.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
Silence is the understanding of fools, and one of the virtues of the wise.
—Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (1636–1711) French Poet, Satirist, Literary Critic
The cruelest lies are often told in silence. A man may have sat in a room for hours and not opened his mouth, and yet come out of that room a disloyal friend or a vile calumniator.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
If you keep your mouth shut you will never put your foot in it.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
If silence is becoming to a wise man, how much more so to a fool?
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Silence is more eloquent than words.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Silence never shows itself to so great an advantage as when it is made the reply to calumny and defamation.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Silence is the best answer to the stupid.
—Egyptian Proverb
Silence may be golden, but can you think of a better way to entertain someone than to listen to him?
—Brigham Young (1801–77) American Mormon Leader
Silence is argument carried on by other means.
—Che Guevara (1928–67) Argentine-Cuban Revolutionary
Silence is the ornament and safeguard of the ignorant. Silence is the safest response for all the contradiction that arises from impertinence, vulgarity, or envy.
—Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann (1728–1795) Swiss Philosophical Writer, Naturalist, Physician
Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
Silence is music to a wise man.
—Turkish Proverb
Silence and simplicity obtrude on no one, but are yet two unequaled attractions in woman.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
The best answer to anger is silence.
—German Proverb
Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
I have often repented speaking, but never of holding my tongue.
—Xenocrates (c.395–314 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Scientist
It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few.
—Pythagoras (570–495 BCE) Greek Philosopher
Silence,–the applause of real and durable impressions.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
His enemies might have said before that he talked rather too much; but now he has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Silence is consent.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Nothing more enhances authority than silence. It is the crowning virtue of the strong, the refuge of the weak, the modesty of the proud, the pride of the humble, the prudence of the wise, and the sense of fools.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
The cruelest lies are often told in silence.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Still waters run deep.
—Common Proverb
But please remember, especially in these times of group-think and the right-on chorus, that no person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
If a word spoken in time is worth one piece of money, silence in its time is certainly worth two.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Silence is golden.
—Common Proverb
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Speech is great, but silence is greater.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
I have learned silence from the talkative; tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. I should not be ungrateful to those teachers.
—Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Silence sweeter is than speech.
—Dinah Craik (1826–87) British Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; but, define yourself.
—Harvey Samuel Firestone (1868–1938) American Businessperson
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After death has stopped the ears.
—A. E. Housman (1859–1936) British Poet, Scholar
There is a silence, the child of love, which expresses everything, and proclaims more loudly than the tongue is able to do.
—Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803) Italian Dramatist
Fellows who have no tongues are often all eyes and ears.
—Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865) Canadian Author, Humorist, Businessperson, Judge
Do not deem they speech secure, for the wall has ears.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The silent dog is the first to bite.
—German Proverb
There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
Silence is one of the great arts of conversation, as allowed by Cicero himself, who says “there is not only an art, but an eloquence in it.” A well-bred woman may easily and effectually promote the most useful and elegant conversation without speaking a word. — The modes of speech are scarcely more variable than the modes of silence.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
He who, silent, loves to be with us — he who loves us in our silence — has touched one of the keys that ravish hearts.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Silence is the highest wisdom of a fool as speech is the greatest trial of a wise man. — If thou wouldst be known as wise, let thy words show thee so; if thou doubt thy words, let thy silence feign thee so. — It is not a greater point of wisdom to discover knowledge than to hide ignorance.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious Poet
I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
Give not thy tongue too great liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A word unspoken is, like the sword in the scabbard, thine. If vented, thy sword is in another’s hand. If thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.
—Francis Quarles (1592–1644) English Religious Poet
Silence is exhilarating at first – as noise is – but there is a sweetness to silence outlasting exhilaration, akin to the sweetness of listening and the velvet of sleep.
—Edward Hoagland (b.1932) American Essayist, Novelist
There are grammatical errors even in his silence.
—Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909–1966) Polish Aphorist, Poet