“Men repent speaking ten times, for once that they repent keeping silence.”

—  James Burgh

The Dignity of Human Nature (1754)
Context: Men repent speaking ten times, for once that they repent keeping silence.
It is an advantage to have concealed one's opinion; for by that means you may change your judgment of things (which every wise man fmds reason to do) and not be accused of fickleness.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Men repent speaking ten times, for once that they repent keeping silence." by James Burgh?
James Burgh photo
James Burgh 49
British politician 1714–1775

Related quotes

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Variant: We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

George Herbert photo

“678. More have repented speech then silence.”

George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest

Jacula Prudentum (1651)

Abraham Lincoln photo

“I am a patient man — always willing to forgive on the Christian terms of repentance; and also to give ample time for repentance. Still I must save this government if possible.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Letter to Reverdy Johnson (26 July 1862)
1860s

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time."”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

"Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", sermon at the National Cathedral, 31 March 1968, published in A Testament of Hope (1986)
1960s
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

Torquato Tasso photo

“Thus if just once you tasted
the thousandth part of joy's flavor,
savor from a loving and beloved heart,
repentently you'd say:
"Lost is all that time
I didn't spend in love!"”

Forse, se tu gustassi anco una volta
La millesima parte de la gioie
Che gusta un cor amato riamando,
Diresti, ripentita, sospirando:
Perduto è tutto il tempo
Che in amar non si spende.
Act I, scene i, lines 26–31.
Variant translations:
All time is truly lost and gone
Which is not spent in serving love.
All time is lost that is not spent in love.
Lost is all the time that you don't spend in love.
Aminta (1573)

Victor Hugo photo
Ray Bradbury photo
Aeschylus photo

“He or silence keeps or speaks in season.”

Aeschylus (-525–-456 BC) ancient Athenian playwright

Source: Seven Against Thebes (467 BC), line 619 (tr. Anna Swanwick)

Marcus Aurelius photo
Omar Khayyám photo

“Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter — and the Bird is on the Wing.”

Omar Khayyám (1048–1131) Persian poet, philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer

The Rubaiyat (1120)

Related topics