Idries Shah Quotes

Silence is the best answer to a fool.

Fools multiply when wise men are silent.

Silence is the only answer you should give to the fools. Where ignorance speaks, intelligence should not give advices.

Euripides was wont to say, silence was an answer to a wise man; but we seem to have greater occasion for it in our dealing with fools and unreasonable persons; for men of breeding and sense will be satisfied with reason and fair words.

Don't speak to fools, they scorn the wisdom of your words.

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

Sloth and Silence are a Fool's Virtues

The wise man knows when to keep silent. Only the fool tells all he knows.

Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools.

Speake fitly, or be silent wisely.

When we don't speak, said Edgar, we become unbearable, and when we do, we make fools of ourselves.

Not every one who has the gift of speech understands the value of silence.

Silence is one great art of conversation.

In churches, we live with the danger of one-way verbal traffic.

He that speakes sowes, and he that holds his peace, gathers.

When you have nothing to say, say nothing; a weak defense strengthens your opponent, and silence is less injurious than a bad reply.

You can forgive a fool because he only runs in one direction and doesn't deceive anybody. It's the deceivers who make you feel bad.

“Who are you?” One who has waited long for you to speak.

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.

Silence is said to be golden, but the best fools the world has ever produced had nothing to say on the subject

No fool can be silent at a feast.

If you cannot - in the long run - tell everyone what you have been doing, your doing has been worthless.

A fool cannot hold his tongue.

If you argue with a fool, someone passing by will not be able to tell who is the fool and who is not.

It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well nor enough sense to hold their tongues; this is the root of all impertinence.