Speech
Language is the dress of thought.
—Anonymous
You are not skilled at speaking: you are only incapable of keeping silent.
—Epicharmus (ca. 540-450 B.C. Greek dramatist)
A bad meal can be redeemed by good conversation, but a good meal can be irretrievably ruined by bad conversation.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762 British writer)
Kind words are the music of the world.
—Frederick Fabre (1814-1863 British theologian)
Kind words don’t wear the tongue.
—Anonymous
Good words cost nothing but are worth much.
—Thomas Fuller (1608-1661 British churchman)
Plain speech is better than much wit.
—Anonymous
From hearing comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance.
—Italian proverb
Least said, soonest mended.
—Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832 British historical novelist and poet)
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790 American politician and scientist)
We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.
—Alexander Pope (1688-1744 British poet)
There are two kinds of cleverness, and both are priceless. One consists of thinking of a bright remark in time to say it. The other consists of thinking of it in time not to say it.
—The English Digest
He knows most who speaks least.
—Anonymous
A wise man thinks before he speaks, but a fool speaks and then thinks of what he has been saying.
—French proverb
It often shows a fine command of language to say nothing.
—The Irish Digest