Henry L. Stimson Quotes

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.

We have exercised restraint and adopted a wise and sane policy. But this should never be construed as weakness…

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

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.

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

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

Silence is one great art of conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person may gain credit for sense, eloquence, wit, who merely says nothing to lessen the opinion which others have of these qualities in themselves.

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

Why must you speak your thoughts? Silence, if fair words stick in your throat, would serve all our ends better.

If you keep your mouth shut you will never put your foot in it.

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees.

It is more noble by silence to avoid an injury than by argument to overcome it.

One of the most beneficial things I've ever learned is how to keep my mouth shut.

It is well for one to know more than he says.

Silence and tact may or may not be the same thing.

An Englishman's never so natural as when he's holding his tongue.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

Be sure your wisest words are those you do not say.

It's very important in life to know when to shut up. You should not be afraid of silence.

You know, I have found out in the course of a long public life that the things I did not say never hurt me.

A man is known by the silence he keeps.

I won this award for keeping my mouth shut, so I think I'll do it again now.

An elder statesman is somebody old enough to know his own mind and keep quiet about it.

It illustrates vividly my incapacity of knowing when to be silent and when to speak.