From the Book of Zingers on the Tongue

It takes a child two years to learn to talk—it takes a man all his life to learn how to keep his mouth shut.

It would be better to leave people wondering why you didn't talk than why you did.

Profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcefully.

If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it.

What isn't said can't come back to hurt.

Wise men think without talking; fools talk without thinking.

Silent gratitude is ingratitude.

Man's ears aren't made to shut, but his mouth is.

By saying little, some people acquire a reputation for knowing considerable.

It is said the average person speaks eleven million words yearly— one-half of these are I, my, and mine.

One's heart cannot be pure whose tongue is not clean.

Give your tongue more rest than your eyes or ears.

Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech.

As a man grows older and wiser, he talks less and says more.

It is much easier for some people to say what they think than to tell what they know.

Some people don't think before they speak—nor afterwards.

To reply to an evil word by another taunt is like trying to clean off dirt with mud.

Blessed are the hard of hearing, for they shall miss much small talk.

Idle gossip keeps some people very busy.

Busy people have no time to be busybodies.

You can't have a gossiping tongue unless you have gossiping ears.

Men never gossip—they merely investigate rumors.

More people are run down by gossip than by automobiles. Running people down is bad business, whether you are a motorist or a gossiper.

Many people are wise until they open their mouth.

He who tells the faults of others to you will tell your faults to others at the first opportunity.

A tongue three inches long can kill a man six feet tall.