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Quotes about talking

319 quotes from 193 people

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Do you know that conversation is one of the greatest pleasures in life? But it wants leisure.
W. Somerset Maugham1874–1965The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), ch. 3
A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Conversation of 1930
- Debate
- Philosophy
Quotation, n. The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. The words erroneously repeated.
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
- Comedy
- Quotations
A fool’s mind is at the mercy of his tongue and a wise man’s tongue is under the control of his mind.
AAli599–661Nahj al-Balagha
- Wisdom
Most men make little other use of their Speech than to give evidence against their own Understanding.
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax1633–1695Moral Thoughts and Reflections
- Intelligence
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Journal (November 8, 1838)
- Character
- Debate
One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels. The thing to do is to supply light and not heat.
Woodrow Wilson1856–1924Speech on Military Preparedness, Pittsburgh (29 January 1916)
- Debate
- Wisdom
When you see yourself quoted in print and you’re sorry you said it, it suddenly becomes a misquotation.
Laurence J. Peter1919–1990Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977), p. 418
- Comedy
- Quotations
In general, when reading a scholarly critic, one profits more from his quotations than from his comments.
W. H. Auden1907–1973The Dyer’s Hand, and Other Essays (1962), “Reading”
- Quotations
- Reading
One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland — and no other.
ECEmil Cioran1911–1995Anathemas and Admirations (1987)
- Patriotism
It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.
Thomas Hardy1840–1928Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), Ch. 51In context
- Women
A great man quotes bravely, and will not draw on his invention when his memory serves him with a word just as good.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Letters and Social Aims (1876), Quotation and Originality
- Quotations
Argument is to me the air I breathe. Given any proposition, I cannot help believing the other side and defending it.
Gertrude Stein1874–1946“Form and Intelligibility,” from The Radcliffe Manuscripts (1949); written in 1895 as an undergraduate at Radcliffe College
- Debate
Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the language of the Devil; for which reason I have, long since, as good as renounced it.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Sartor Resartus (1833–1834), Bk. II, ch. 4.
- Humor
Macaulay is like a book in breeches… He has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
Sydney Smith1771–1845Lady Holland’s Memoir (1855), Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 415
- Clever Jabs