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From the Elders. Love silence more than speaking; for silence stores up treasure; but speaking scatters it.

(15Ε_198> Before all commandments God chose stillness; for it is written, Upon whom shall I look, but upon the humble and still?

He who wishes to be saved, let him pursue poverty and silence. Apollon. It is necessary to take great care not to say what one ought not.

For it is the mark of someone completely uneducated not to be able to be silent, but to blurt out things that are not proper.

A wise man even in silence honors God, knowing also why he is silent. Plutarch. Whatever you wish to be kept silent, tell no one; or how from another

do you demand the faithfulness of silence, which you have not provided for yourself? To be silent is not only thirst-quenching, as Hippocrates says, but also free from grief and

painless. Zeno. When some strangers who were present at a symposium were showing courtesy to Zeno,

drinking to his health, they asked him, as he was keeping quiet, "What should we say about you, O Zeno, to the king?" And he said, "Nothing else, than that there is an old man in Athens who is able to be silent while drinking."

Anacharsis. When he was feasting at Solon's, he was seen sleeping, with his left hand placed on his genitals, and his right hand on his mouth. For he thought the tongue required a stronger bridle.

848 Aristotle. He who does not know how to be silent, does not know how to speak. The same man was asked, "What is most difficult in life?" He said, "To be silent about what one must not

speak." Asked, "For what reason, while teaching others to speak, are you yourself silent?"

he said, "For the whetstone itself does not cut, but it makes swords sharp." (15Ε_200> Isocrates. Make two occasions for speaking, either about things you know clearly,

or about things it is necessary to say. For in these alone is speech better than silence; but in other matters, it is better to be silent than to speak.

Another from Aristotle. Of a base man, just as of a silent dog, one must be wary of the silence, or the voice.

Theophrastus. Theophrastus the Peripatetic philosopher, seeing a certain young man keeping quiet at a symposium, said: "If you are uneducated and are silent, you are educated; but if you are educated, you are being silent in an uneducated way."

Chares. Try especially everywhere to control your tongue, For what brings honor to old and young alike, Is the tongue, when it possesses timely silence. Hieron. He thought that those who reveal a secret matter do wrong, and to those to whom

they reveal it. For we hate not only those who blabbed, but also those who heard what we did not want heard.

Of Pittacus. What you are about to do, do not say; for if you fail, you will be laughed at. Sophocles. But whenever a thief is clearly discovered, It is necessary to be silent, even if he has a fine mouth. For shame in evil deeds is of no help. For silence is an ally to the one who speaks. Xenocrates. Xenocrates, dividing each part of the day for some action,

also assigned a part to silence. Alexander.

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Ἐκ τῶν Γερόντων. Ἀγάπα τό σιγᾷν ὑπέρ τό λαλεῖν· ἡ σιωπή γάρ θησαυρίζει· τό δέ λαλεῖν διασκορπίζει.

(15Ε_198> Πρό πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν τήν ἡσυχίαν ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός· γέγραπται γάρ, Ἐπί τίνα ἐπιβλέψω, ἀλλ᾿ ἤ ἐπί τόν ταπεινόν καί ἡσύχιον;

Ὁ θέλων σωθῆναι, διωξάτω τήν ἀκτημοσύνην καί τήν σιωπήν. Ἀπολλων. Πολλήν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιεῖσθαι χρή, περί τοῦ μή λέγειν ἅ μή δεῖ.

Παντελῶς γάρ ἀπαιδεύτου τινός ἐστι τό μή δύνασθαι σιωπᾷν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκλαλεῖν τά μή καλῶς ἔχοντα.

Σοφός ἀνήρ καί σιγῶν τόν Θεόν τιμᾷ, εἰδώς καί διατί σιγᾷ. Πλουτάρχ. Ἅπερ ἄν σιωπᾶσθαι βούλει, μηδενί εἴπῃς· ἤ πῶς παρά τινος

ἀπαιτεῖς τό πιστόν τῆς σιωπῆς, ὅ μή παρέσχρς σεαυτῷ; Τό σιωπᾷν οὐ μόνον ἄδιψον, ὥς φησιν Ἱπποκράτης, ἀλλά καί ἄλυπον καί

ἀνώδυνον. Ζήνων. Ὅτε ξένοι τινές ἐν συμποσίῳ παρόντες φιλοφρονούμενοι Ζήνωνα,

προπιόντες αὐτῷ, ἤροντο ἡσυχίαν ἄγοντα, Περί σοῦ δέ τί χρή λέγειν, ὦ Ζήνων, τῷ βασιλεῖ; κἀκεῖνος ἔφη, Ἄλλο μηδέν, ἤ ὅτι πρεσβύτης ἐστίν ἐν Ἀθήναις παρά πότον σιωπᾷν δυνάμενος.

Ἀνάχαρσις. Οὗτος ἑστιαθείς παρά Σόλωνι, καί κοιμώμενος ὤφθη, τήν μέν ἀριστεράν χεῖρα τοῖς μορίοις, τήν δέ δεξιάν τῷ στόματι προσκειμένην ἔχων. Ἐγκρατεστέρου γάρ ᾤετο χαλινοῦ δεῖσθαι τήν γλῶτταν.

848 Ἀριστοτέλ. Ὁ μή εἰδώς σιωπᾶν, οὐκ οἶδε διαλέγεσθαι. Ὁ αὐτός ἐρωτηθείς, Τί δυσκολώτατόν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ, εἶπε, Τῷ σιωπᾷν ἅ μή

δεῖ λαλεῖν. Ἐρωτηθείς, ∆ιά ποίαν αἰτίαν τούς ἄλλους διδάσκων λέγειν, αὐτός σιωπᾷς;

ἔφη, Καί γάρ ἡ ἀκόνη αὐτή μέν οὐ τέμνει, τά δέ ξίφη ὀξέα ποιεῖ. (15Ε_200> Ἰσοκράτ. ∆ύο ποιοῦ καιρούς τοῦ λεγειν, ἤ περί ὧν οἶσθα σαφῶς,

ἤ περί ὧν ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν. Ἐν τούτοις γάρ μόνοις ὁ λόγος τῆς σιγῆς κρείττων· ἐν δέ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἄμεινον σιγᾷν ἤ λέγειν.

Ἄλλ. Ἀριστ. Φαύλου ἀνδρός, καθάπερ κυνός σιγηροῦ δεῖ τήν σιγήν, ἤ τήν φωνήν εὐλαβεῖσθαι.

Θεόφραστ. Θεόφραστος ὁ Περιπατητικός φιλόσοφος, ἐν συμποσίῳ νεανίσκον τινά βλέπων ἡσυχίαν ἔχοντα, εἶπεν· Εἰ μέν ἀπαίδευτος ὤν σιωπᾷς, πεπαιδευμένος ὑπάρχεις· εἰ δέ πεπαιδευμένος, ἀπαιδεύτως σιωπᾷς.

Χάρητ. Γλώσσης μάλιστα πανταχοῦ πειρῶ κρατεῖν, Ὅ γάρ γέροντι καί νέῳ τιμήν φέρει, Ἡ γλῶσσα, σιγήν καιρίαν κεκτημένη. Ἱέρων. Τούς ἀπόῤῥητον λόγον ἐκφέροντες ἀδικεῖν ᾤετο, καί πρός οὕς

ἐκφέρουσιν. Μισοῦμεν γάρ οὐ μόνον τούς ἐκλαλήσαντας, ἀλλά καί τούς ἀκούσαντας, ἅ μή βουλόμεθα.

Πιττακοῦ. Ὅ μέλλεις ποιεῖν, μή λέγε· ἀποτυχών γάρ γελασθήσῃ. Σοφοκλ. Κλέπτων δ᾿ ὅταν τις ἐμφανῶς ἐφευρεθῇ, Σιγᾷν ἀνάγκη, κἄν καλόν φέρῃ στόμα. Αἰδώς γάρ ἐν κακοῖσιν οὐδέν ὠφελεῖ. Ἡ γάρ σιωπή τῷ λαλοῦντι σύμμαχος. Ξενοκράτ. Ξενοκράτης διαιρῶν ἕκαστον μέρος τῆς ἡμέρας εἰς πρᾶξίν τινα,

καί τῇ σιωπῇ μέρος ἀπένειμεν. Ἀλεξάνδρ.