TALKING
Addison, Joseph
It has been said in praise of some men, that they could talk whole hours together upon anything; but it must be owned to the honor of the other sex, that there are many among them who can talk whole hours together upon nothing.
Bruyere, Jean de la
It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well, nor judgment to hold their tongues.
Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope
Never hold any one by the button, or the hand, in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them.
Cautiously avoid speaking of the domestic affairs either of yourself, or of other people.—Yours are nothing to them but tedious gossip; and theirs are nothing to you.
Colton, Caleb C.
It has been well observed, that the tongue discovers the state of the mind no less than that of the body; but, in either case, before the philosopher or the physician can judge, the patient must open his mouth.
Congreve, William
I know a lady that loves talking so incessantly, she won't give an echo fair play; she has that everlasting rotation of tongue that an echo must wait till she dies before it can catch her last words!
Cowper, William
Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse; not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign.
Cromwell, Oliver
Does a man speak foolishly?—suffer him gladly, for you are wise. Does he speak erroneously?—stop such a man's mouth with sound words that cannot be gainsaid. Does he speak truly?—rejoice in the truth.
Delille, Abbe
A wise man reflects before he speaks; a fool speaks, and then reflects on what he has uttered.
Dryden, John
They think too little who talk too much.
Hale, Sir Matthew
Let your words be few, especially when your betters, or strangers, or men of more experience, or understanding, are in the place, for in so doing you do yourself at once two great mischiefs: first, you betray, and discover your own weakness and folly; and next, you rob yourself of that opportunity which you might otherwise have to gain wisdom and experience, by hearing those that you silence by your impertinent talking.
Hazlitt, William
There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of conversation.
Herbert, George
A civil guest will no more talk all, than eat all the feast.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
When I think of talking, it is of course with a woman. For talking at its best being an inspiration, it wants a corresponding divine quality of receptiveness, and where will you find this but in a woman?
Irving, Washington
The man who talks everlastingly and promiscuously, and who seems to have an exhaustless magazine of sound, crowds so many words into his thoughts, that he always obscures, and very frequently conceals them.
Johnson, Samuel
A man should be careful never to tell tales of himself to his own disadvantage; people may be amused, and laugh at the time, but they will be remembered, and brought up against him upon some subsequent occasion.
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth
The lover and physician are both popular from the same cause. We talk to them only of ourselves. That, I daresay, was the origin of confession—egotism under the name of religion.
Landor, Walter Savage
We often say things because we can say them well, rather than because they are sound and reasonable.
L'Estrange, Sir Roger
There are braying men in the world as well as braying asses; for, what's loud and senseless talking and swearing, any other than braying.
Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat
Those who have but little business to attend to, are great talkers. The less men think, the more they talk.
Plato
As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have least wit are the greatest babblers.
Plutarch
If you light upon an impertinent talker, that sticks to you like a burr, deal freely with him, break off the discourse, and pursue your business.
Talkative people who wish to be loved are hated; when they desire to please, they bore; when they think they are admired, they are laughed at; they injure their friends, benefit their enemies, and ruin themselves.
The talkative listen to no one, for they are ever speaking.—And the first evil that attends those who know not how to be silent, is, that they hear nothing.
Prior, Matthew
They talk most who have the least to say.
Quarles, Francis
If thy words be too luxuriant, confine them, lest they confine thee.—He that thinks he can never speak enough, may easily speak too much.—A full tongue and an empty brain are seldom parted.
Raleigh, Sir Walter
He that cannot refrain from much speaking is like a city without walls; therefore if thou observest this rule in all assemblies thou shalt seldom err; restrain thy choler, hearken much, and speak little, for the tongue is the instrument of the greatest good and greatest evil that is done in the world.
Speaking much is a sign of vanity; for he that is lavish in words, is a niggard in deed.
Ray, John
A talkative person runs himself into great inconveniences by babbling out his own and other's secrets.
Richter, Jean Paul
One learns tacturnity best among those who have none, and loquacity among the taciturn.
Rochefoucauld, Francois, Duc de la
As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so it is of small wits to talk much and say nothing.
Shakespeare, William
Talkers are no good doers.
Many a man's tongue shakes out his master's undoing.
What a spendthrift he is of his tongue.
Shaw, Henry Wheeler
The more ideas a man has the fewer words he takes to express them. Wise men never talk to make time; they talk to save it.
Simmons, Charles
Great talkers are like leaky vessels; everything runs out of them.
Smith, Sydney
There is the same difference between the tongues of some, as between the hour and the minute hand; one goes ten times as fast, and the other signifies ten times as much.
Socrates
The tongue of a fool is the key of his counsel, which, in a wise man, wisdom hath in keeping.
Such as thy words are, such will thy affections be esteemed; and such will thy deeds as thy affections, and such life as thy deeds.
Swift, Jonathan
Brisk talkers are usually slow thinkers. There is, indeed, no wild beast more to be dreaded than a communicative man having nothing to communicate. If you are civil to the voluble they will abuse your patience; if brusque, your character.
The common fluency of speech in many men, and most women, is owing to a scarcity of matter and a scarcity of words, for whoever is a master of language and has a mind full of ideas, will be apt, in speaking, to hesitate upon the choice of his words.
Taylor, Jeremy
Great knowledge, if it be without vanity, is the most severe bridle of the tongue. For so have I heard, that all the noises and prating of the pool, the croaking of frogs and toads, are hushed and appeased upon the bringing upon them the light of a candle or torch. Every beam of reason and ray of knowledge checks the dissolution of the tongue.
