“It is wise to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well.”
Moralia, Of the Training of Children
No. I, "The Cabinet", p. 29
The English Constitution (1867)
“It is wise to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well.”
Moralia, Of the Training of Children
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
ibid.
1870s
Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) American women's rights activist
An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting] (1874)
Trial on the charge of illegal voting (1874)
William Barclay (1907–1978) Church of Scotland minister and academic
Source: Many Witnesses, One Lord
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church
solis usuris ditentur
Source: On the Governance of the Jews (c. 1263–1265) art. 2
Ronnie Coleman (1964) American bodybuilder
On his reaction being named the top professional bodybuilder in the world — reported in Nancy Kruh (October 3, 1999) "Ronnie Coleman- Nobody messes with this Arlington cop, a.k.a. Mr. Olympia", The Dallas Morning News, p. 1E.
“There are occasions when it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all.”
George Orwell book Homage to Catalonia
Charles Dickens (1939)
Source: Homage to Catalonia
Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007) 1st President of Russia and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR
Statement to a TImes reporter in 1990, as quoted in "The wit and wisdom of Boris" in Guardian Unlimited (23 April 2007)
1990s