To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. – Ben Jonson
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
Of those who say nothing, few are silent. – Thomas Neill
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered. – John Ruskin
Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hands on the strings to stop their vibration as in twanging them to bring out their music. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. – Martin Farquhar Tupper, “Of Discretion,” Proverbial Philosophy
The true genius shudders at incompleteness — and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be. – Edgar Allan Poe
Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud. – Hermann Hesse
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. – Dorothy Nevill
The easiest way to save face is to keep the lower half shut. – Author Unknown
Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken. – Orson Rega Card
Foolishness always results when the tongue outraces the brain. – Author Unknown
The words you choose to say something are just as important as the decision to speak. – Author Unknown
Among provocatives, 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
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage. – Publilius Syrus
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 stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind. – Walter Bagehot
I am annoyed by individuals who are embarrassed by pauses in a conversation. To me, every conversational pause refreshes. – George Sanders
It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood. – Karl Popper, Unended Quest
If something goes without saying, let it. – Author Unknown
