It is easier not to speak a word at all, than not to speak more words than we should.
[Facilius est enim tacere quam in verbo non excedere.]
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471) German-Dutch priest, author
The Imitation of Christ [De Imitatione Christi], Book 1, ch. 20, v. 2 (1.20.2) (c. 1418-27) [ed. Parker (1841)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
For it is not so hard to keep always silence, as it is not to exceed in words when we speak much.
[tr. Whitford/Raynal (1530/1871)]
For it is not so hard always to keep silence as it is not to exceed in words when we speak much.
[tr. Whitford/Gardiner (1530/1955)]
It is easier not to speak a word at all, then not to speake more words then we should.
[tr. Page (1639), 1.20.6]
'Tis certainly much easier for a Man to restrain himself from Talking at all, than to enter into Discourse, and not say more than becomes him.
[tr. Stanhope (1696; 1706 ed.)]
For it is much easier to be wholly silent, than not to exceed in word.
[tr. Payne (1803), 1.20.3]
It is much easier to be wholly silent, than not to exceed in talk.
[tr. Dibdin (1851)]
It is easier to be altogether silent, than not to go to excess in speaking.
[ed. Bagster (1860)]
For it is easier to be altogether silent than it is not to exceed in word.
[tr. Benham (1874)]
It is easier not to speak at all, than not to exceed in speech.
[tr. Anon. (1901)]
It is easier to be silent altogether than not to speak too much.
[tr. Croft/Bolton (1940)]
It is easier to be quite silent than not to say a word too much.
[tr. Daplyn (1952)]
It is easier to keep silence altogether than not to talk more than we should.
[tr. Sherley-Price (1952)]
Easier to keep your mouth shut than to talk without saying too much.
[tr. Knox-Oakley (1959)]
It is easier to keep quiet altogether than not to say a word too much.
[tr. Knott (1962)]
To remain entirely silent is easier than not to talk too much.
[tr. Rooney (1979)]
It is easier to be completely silent than not to be long-winded.
[tr. Creasy (1989)]
Quotations about:
chatter
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
I cannot guess why it is so, but those who know the least speak the most.
[E non so io indovinare donde ciò proceda, che chi meno sa più ragioni.]
Giovanni della Casa (1503-1556) Florentine poet, author, diplomat, bishop
Galateo: Or, A Treatise on Politeness and Delicacy of Manners [Il Galateo overo de’ costumi], ch. 24 (1558) [tr. Einsenbichler/Bartlett (1986)]
(Source)
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:
Nor can I guess at the cause, (though it is certainly fact) why he that knows the least, should always talk the most.
[tr. Graves (1774)]
I cannot divine how it happens that the man who knows the least is the most argumentative.
[Source]
To a talkative fellow, who poured out a torrent of words and then said, “Let’s hope I haven’t been boring you with my chatter!” he replied, “No, by Zeus, I haven’t been listening.”
[πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα ἀδολέσχην, ἐπειδὴ αὐτοῦ πολλὰ κατήντλησε, “μήτι σου κατεφλυάρησα;” “μὰ Δί᾽,” εἶπεν: “οὐ γάρ σοι προσεῖχον.]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Mensch (2018)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
A chattering fellow, who had been abusing him, said to him, “Have not I been jeering you properly?” “Not that I know of,” said he, “for I have not been listening to you.”
[tr. Yonge (1853)]
To the chatterbox who poured out a flood of talk upon him and then inquired, "Have I bored you to death with my chatter?" he replied, "No, indeed; for I was not attending to you."
[tr. Hicks (1925), sec. 20]
To the man talking endlessly when he assailed him with words and asked “Have I worn you out with nonsense”, he said “By Zeus, no! I wasn’t listening to you.”
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]
Alcohol: A liquid good for preserving almost everything except secrets.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Charles Wayland Towne, The Foolish Dictionary (1905)
The noisiest streams are the shallowest.
(Other Authors and Sources)
English proverb
Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
Beyond Good and Evil, 169 (1886) [tr. Kaufmann (1966)]
We seldom regret talking too little, but very often talking too much. This is a well-known maxim which everybody knows and nobody practices.
[L’on se repent rarement de parler peu, très souvent de trop parler: maxime usée et triviale que tout le monde sait, et que tout le monde ne pratique pas.]
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 11 “Of Mankind [De l’Homme],” § 149 (11.149) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much, a common and trivial maxim which every body knows, and no body practices.
[Bullord ed. (1696) and Curll ed. (1713)]
We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much; a common obsolete Maxim, which every body knows, and no body practices.
[Browne ed. (1752)]
We seldom repent of speaking little, and very often of speaking too much; a well-worn and familiar maxim, that everyone knows but that not everyone practices.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]
Far more numerous was the herd of such,
Who think too little, and who talk too much.John Dryden (1631-1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
Absalom and Achitophel, l. 533 (1681)
The more you say, the less people remember.
The fewer the words, the greater the profit.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
(Attributed)
In S.A. Bent, comp., Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1887). Usually attributed, due to structure of that reference, to Francois Fénelon.
Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
(Attributed)
Many talk like Philosophers, and live like Fools.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #3358 (1732)
(Source)
God gave us teeth to hold back our tongue.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Greek proverb
Keep close behind me. Let them say their say.
Stand straight, a mighty tower unwavering,
its height unshaken by such breaths of wind.[Vien dietro a me, e lascia dir le genti:
sta come torre ferma, che non crolla
già mai la cima per soffiar di venti.]Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 2 “Purgatorio,” Canto 5, l. 13ff (5.13-15) [Virgil] (1314) [tr. Kirkpatrick (2007)]
(Source)
Virgil scolding Dante for slowing down when other spirits are pointing and murmuring about him having a shadow, unlike them.
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:
Can murmurs move you? Let them whisper on,
And bid your Reason firmly keep its throne,
and o'er the fortress of the mind preside.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 2]
Come after me, and to their babblings leave
The crowd. Be as a tower, that, firmly set,
Shakes not its top for any blast that blows!
[tr. Cary (1814)]
Come thou behind me, let the people talk;
Stand like a steadfast tower, whose lofty crest
Ne'er quaked obedient to the rocking blast.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]
Come after me, and let the people talk;
Stand like a steadfast tower, that never wags
Its top for all the blowing of the winds;
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]
Come behind me, and let the folk talk; stand like a firm tower which never shakes its top for blast of winds.
[tr. Butler (1885)]
Follow thou me, and let the people talk:
Stand like a solid tower, that doth not bow
Its crest at any time, though wild winds stalk.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]
Come after me, and let the people talk. Stand as a tower firm, that never wags its top for blowing of the winds.
[tr. Norton (1892)]
Follow me and let the people talk; stand thou as a firm tower which never shakes its summit for blast of winds.
[tr. Okey (1901)]
Come after me and let the people talk. Stand like a firm tower that never shakes its top for blast of wind.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]
Follow behind me and let them talk their fill:
Stand like a tower whose summit never shakes
For the wind's blowing, and stays immovable.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]
Follow thou me, and let the people chatter;
Stand as a tower stands firm in time of trouble,
Nor bends its head, though winds may bawl and batter.
[tr. Sayers (1955)]
Follow my steps, though all such whisper of you:
be as a tower of stone, its lofty crown
unswayed by anything the winds may do.
[tr. Ciardi (1961)]
Follow me and let the people talk.
Stand as a firm tower which never
shakes its summit for blast of winds.
[tr. Singleton (1973)]
Keep up with me and let the people talk!
Be like a solid tower whose brave height
remains unmoved by all the winds that blow.
[tr. Musa (1981)]
Come on behind me, let those people talk:
Stand like a solid tower which does not shake
Its top whatever winds are blowing on it.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]
Come, follow me, and let these people talk:
stand like a sturdy tower that does not shake
its summit though the winds may blast.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1982)]
Come after me, and let the people talk:
be like a strong tower whose top never falls,
however hard the winds may blow.
[tr. Durling (2003)]
Follow me close behind, and let the people talk: stand like a steady tower, that never shakes at the top, in the blasts of wind.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
Just follow me and let the people talk.
Why can't you be like a sturdy tower
that does not tremble in the fiercest wind.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]
Just follow me and let the people talk:
Stand steady as a tower, which doesn't shake
Its top whenever the winds decide to blow.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
Karl Marx paraphrased the first line of this tercet in the conclusion of his Author's Preface to the First Edition of Das Kapital (1867), crediting Dante:
Every opinion based on scientific criticism I welcome. As to the prejudices of so-called public opinion, to which I have never made concessions, now as aforetime the maxim of the great Florentine is mine: "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti."
Which reads something like "Follow your own course, and let the people talk." The phrase is given in Italian even in the original German edition.
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
NY World-Telegram & Sun (6 Jun 1958)
