Muriel Spark Quotes

I always believed that my silence on several topics will be an advantage in the long run.

It is tact that is golden, not silence.

Silence is safer than speech.

Half of seeming clever is keeping your mouth shut at the right times.

While thou livest keep a good tongue in thy head.

Prudent is he who can keep silent that part of truth which may be untimely, and by not speaking it, does not spoil the truth of what he said.

We cannot wait for the storm to blow over; we must learn to work in the rain.

Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.

If you cannot solve it, it is not a problem - it is reality.

A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not?

The way I figured it, keeping quiet was safe. Words could betray you if you choose the wrong ones, or mean less if you used too many.

All we have to do is listen. The Good Lord gave us two ears and only one mouth, my dear white-headed mother used to say.

You never know what's going to happen in this world. I'll just keep my mouth shut. That's a good idea.

You'll regret opening your mouth. You'll rarely regret keeping it shut.

All of us love miracles. We just don't like being in a situation that necessitates one.

The wise man tells not what he knows. It is not prudent to sport with one's head by revealing the king's secrets.

When you are in difficulties, look upon the overcoming of them as a great adventure.

When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue.

Our goal is not to have A problem-free life. But to conquer all the problems As they appear Along our life-road.

I am certain that the safest way to defend your character is never to say a word about it.

If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it requires no less to know when to be silent.

For I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.

I think that two wrongs don't make a right. And I have been in the situation of counseling young girls, not 13 but 15, who have had very at risk, difficult pregnancies. And my counsel was to look for some alternatives, which they did. And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade.

Silence, when nothing need be said, is the eloquence of discretion.

When life gives you lemons, make sure you know whose eyes you need to squeeze them in.