12 Quotes Tagged: reticence

Silence does not always mark wisdom.

Many times in life I've regretted the things I've said without thinking. But I've never regretted the things I said nearly as much as the words I left unspoken.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

There should be a little gap between you and your friends, though you'll miss their companionship and you'll also miss their disrespect.

Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses.

"There are a great many opinions in this world, and a good half of them are professed by people who have never been in trouble."

(The Mill)

Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.

There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubbable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Stranger's Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed, and three offenses, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion. My brother was one of the founders, and I have myself found it a very soothing atmosphere.

If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.

It is always assumed by the empty-headed, who chatter about themselves for want of something better, that people who do not discuss their affairs openly must have something to hide.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

Keep your problems to yourself, if its too much for you, kill it slowly till it disappears from your life.