“It is easier not to speak a word at all than to speak more words than we should.”

Book I, ch. 20.
The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is easier not to speak a word at all than to speak more words than we should." by Thomas à Kempis?
Thomas à Kempis photo
Thomas à Kempis 41
German canon regular 1380–1471

Related quotes

Li Yundi photo

“It’s easier to speak through the keys than through words.”

Li Yundi (1982) Chinese pianist

telegraph.co.uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/10863146/Lang-Lang-Weve-never-met.html

Francis Bacon photo
Sylvia Day photo
Arthur Conan Doyle photo

“There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words.”

Source: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Mark Twain photo
Mitch Albom photo

“the words people do not speak are louder than the ones they do.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: The First Phone Call from Heaven

Eric Hobsbawm photo

“Words are witnesses which often speak louder than documents.”

Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) British academic historian and Marxist historiographer

Introduction
The Age of Revolution (1962)
Context: Words are witnesses which often speak louder than documents. Let us consider a few English words, which were invented or gained their modern meanings, substantially in the period of sixty years with which this volume deals. They are such words as 'industry', 'industrialist', 'factory,' middle class,' 'working class,' and 'socialism.' They include 'aristocracy,' as well as 'railway,' 'liberal' and 'conservative' as political terms, 'nationality,'scientist,' and 'engineer,' 'proletariat,' and (economic) 'crisis'.

“…when General Eisenhower defined an intellectual as “a man who takes more words than is necessary to tell more than he knows”, he was speaking not as a Republican but as an American.”

Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) poet, critic, novelist, essayist

“The Intellectual in America”, p. 5
A Sad Heart at the Supermarket: Essays & Fables (1962)

Louisa May Alcott photo

“Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations.”

Source: Little Women (1868), Ch. 36 : Beth's Secret
Context: Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations. Beth could not reason upon or explain the faith that gave her courage and patience to give up life, and cheerfully wait for death. Like a confiding child, she asked no questions, but left everything to God and nature, Father and Mother of us all, feeling sure that they, and they only, could teach and strengthen heart and spirit for this life and the life to come. She did not rebuke Jo with saintly speeches, only loved her better for her passionate affection, and clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself. She could not say, "I'm glad to go," for life was very sweet for her. She could only sob out, "I try to be willing," while she held fast to Jo, as the first bitter wave of this great sorrow broke over them together.

Quirinus Kuhlmann photo

Related topics