Thelonious Monk Quotes

When you have nothing important or interesting to say, don't let anyone persuade you to say it.

Moral power is probably best when it is not used. The less you use it the more you have.

There is often, in the affairs of government, more efficiency and wisdom in non-action than in action.

Some of the best things you do are the things you don't do.

What good is power when you're too wise to use it?

The sign of a mature musician is knowing what not to play.

A gentleman is a man who can play the banjo, but doesn't.

I don't show every picture that I have, I think discretion is also important.

Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is invariably more important than opening it at the right time.

Knowing when to say something and when not to say something is important.

But believe me, there's a lot I'd like to say - but I don't think the time is right now.

Let the poor man mind his tongue

Drink without getting drunk Love without suffering jealousy Eat without overindulging Never argue And once in a while, with great discretion, misbehave

Evil thought is a dangerous pet. It is safer to play with it from behind the iron bars of circumstance.

Remember what Simonides said, that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.

Tact is the unsaid part of what you think.

There are some secrets we keep because we can't bear to let them out and some because it's better to keep them in.

If a man keeps his trap shut, the world will beat a path to his door.

There are three signs of a knowledgeable person: knowledge, forbearance and silence.

I have been cautioned to talk but be careful not to say anything. I do not consider this a difficult task.

I have tales to tell, but I don't tell them. Discretion. Discretion.

There are more quarrels smothered by just shutting your mouth, and holding it shut, than by all the wisdom in the world.

Never pass by a chance to shut up.

Keep the golden mean between saying too much and too little.

It is easier not to speak a word at all than to speak more words than we should.