Thomas Carlyle Quotes

A wise person speaks carefully and with truth, for every word tht passes between one's teeth is meant for something.

It is better wither to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence. Sooner throw a pearl at hazard than an idle or useless word; and do not say a little in many words, but a great deal in a few.

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

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.

I will begin to speak when I have that to say which had not better be unsaid.

Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit.

If your words aren't truthful, the finest optically letter-spaced typography won't help.

Speake fitly, or be silent wisely.

In good speaking, should not the mind of the speaker know the truth of the matter about which he is to speak.

Everyone breathes in air, but it's a wise person who knows when to use that air to speak and when to exhale in silence.

I'll do something, get into some kind of work where talk don't count. Maybe I'll just be a mechanic in a shop. I don't know. I guess I don't care much. I just want to work and keep quiet. That's all I've got in mind.

I hate false words, and seek with care, difficulty, and moroseness, those that fit the thing.

While thou livest keep a good tongue in thy head.

Right speech comes out of silence and right silence comes out of speech.

It is a great misfortune not to possess sufficient wit to speak well, nor sufficient judgment to keep silent.

One must not be afraid of a little silence. Some find silence awkward or oppressive. But a relaxed approach to dialogue will include the welcoming of some silence. It is often a devastating question to ask oneself, but it is sometimes important to ask it - 'In saying what I have in mind will I really improve on the silence?

The wise hand does not all the tongue dictates.

Wise men mingle mirth with their cares, as a help either to forget or overcome them; but to resort to intoxication for the ease of one's mind is to cure melancholy by madness.

[As a screenwriter] I have a sense of exile from thought, a nostalgia of the quiet room and balanced mind. I am a writer, and there comes a time when that which I write has to belong to me, has to be written alone and in silence, with no one looking over my shoulder, no one telling me a better way to write it. It doesn't have to be great writing, it doesn't even have to be terribly good. It just has to be mine.

Think before thou speakest.

Talk is free but the wise man chooses when to spend his words.

It is possible to have words come to your mind, and still refrain from speaking them aloud.

You don't have to be a drug addict to care for your mind.

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.