Quotes about talking
319 quotes from 193 people
Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.
As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882May 1849A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
Confucius551–479 BCAnalects, Chapter IV, James Legge translation.Adam was the only man who, when he said a good thing, knew that nobody had said it before him.
If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.
?UnattributedOften credited to W. C. FieldsAnyone who invokes authors in discussion is not using his intelligence but his memory.
- PSPublilius Syrus101–101 BCOften credited to Xenocrates
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
Winston Churchill1874–1965My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 9 (Education At Bangalore).It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.1809–1894Often credited to Oliver Wendell Holmes- RLRichard Lingard1630–1670Often credited to Plato
Oscar Wilde1854–1900The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
