Quotes about speaking
page 44

“God speaks, we listen, and that's the whole process of discernment. Everybody has discernment all their life, what have I been blind to, and what do I need to do to recognize the presence of God in my life?”

William Joseph Dendinger (1939) Catholic bishop

Bishop William J. Dendinger - The Samaritan Woman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk1eGos_--Y (April 10, 2014)

Life, God

“I believe that even without speaking the same language, we can create unity: we understand each other because we pray. It’s a form of reconciliation of the world across the borders, cultures and languages of different nations. We’re a family and we complement each other.”

Eduardo Verástegui (1974) Mexican actor

Actor Eduardo Verástegui on John Paul II and being pro-life https://aleteia.org/2020/06/06/actor-eduardo-verastegui-on-john-paul-ii-and-being-pro-life/ (June 6, 2020)

World, Family, Understanding

“Either there is or there is not a mechanism for enforcing human rights. If there is not, it would seem that calling them 'rights' simply means that we think it would (morally) be a good idea if they were enforced, although, of course, they are not. A 'human right' is an inherently vacuous conception, and to speak of 'human rights' is a kind of puffery or white magic.”

Raymond Geuss (1946) British philosopher

Pg 144
History and Illusion in Politics (2001)

Idea, Thinking

“But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth. I speak the truth for all of you, and for everyone in this country who doesn’t have a voice.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Quoted by [Three years ago today: Trump promised “I will always tell you the truth”, Jon, Perr, August 18, 2019, January 16, 2021, Daily Kos, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/18/1879762/-Three-years-ago-today-Trump-promised-I-will-always-tell-you-the-truth]).
2016, August 2016

Truth, Country

“What is really happening is the reinvention of family not to favour either women or men but to promote new and radical models of family as remote as, so to speak, conceivable from the normative, natural model. And the more remote, the more likely to be preferred.”

John Waters (columnist) (1955) Irish columnist

A 'Yes' to the introduction of post-parent parenting? http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/a-yes-to-the-introduction-of-postparent-parenting-31209759.html (2015)

Women, Men, Family, Nature

“We'd only speak Korean at home. They [parents] wouldn't let us have sleepovers and sent us away to Korean church camp during the summers. We had weird food concoctions, too, so instead of spaghetti bolognese, we had rice bolognese with kimchi.”

Jamie Chung (1983) American actress

On her childhood memories in "Jamie Chung, Star of ‘Premium Rush, On Her Road from The Real World to Hollywood" in The Daily Beast (25 August 2012) https://www.thedailybeast.com/jamie-chung-star-of-premium-rush-on-her-road-from-the-real-world-to-hollywood

Food, Home, Parent, Summer

“My parents, in their 40s, moved to a different country, started a business, bought a house, didn't speak the language, raised two kids - it's kind of amazing.”

Jamie Chung (1983) American actress

As quoted in "Jamie Chung is finally over her fear of commitment" in New York Post (14 April 2015) https://nypost.com/2015/04/14/once-reluctant-bride-jamie-chung-is-ready-to-walk-down-the-aisle/

Business, Parent, Housing, Country

“I considered myself white, having grown up essentially American but with Filipino parents. I don’t speak with an accent and I barely speak Tagalog. So, for most of my life, I looked at the world as a ‘white’ person.”

Jason Tanamor (1975) Filipino-American Author and Writer

Filipino Daily Inquirer Interview (2020)

Life, World, Parent, Personality

“I think God put me in this position as a punter and in professional football because He wants something out of me to be able to share with other people, as a Christian, I think God has given me that platform to say, "Hey, I've allowed you to do a lot of things and I need you to speak My name."”

Dustin Colquitt (1982) American football punter

He always finds a way to put His people in situations where they can spread His Word and spread His name. 'I Want Them to See the Power of God': These 3 Christians Are up for NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2019/february/i-want-them-to-see-the-power-of-god-these-3-christians-are-up-for-nfl-rsquo-s-walter-payton-man-of-the-year-award (May 19, 2019)

God, People, Thinking, Football

“However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

Reading

“Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

Silence, Parting, Peaceful

“The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

“It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship.”

Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887) American clergyman and activist

Love, Pain, Friendship, Truth

“The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Love, Truth, Way

“If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

“Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

Nature

“Kids listen to kids. If you have a platform, why not use it to speak about things that can help other people?”

Lilia Buckingham (2003) American actress, author and dancer

Article https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a25320496/brat-youtube/ in Seventeen (27 November 2018)

People, Help

“The poet is a brother speaking to a brother of "a moment of their other lives"”

Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) British poet

a moment that had been buried beneath the dust of the busy world.
"The Poet's Vision" (1959)

“Of God one doesn't speak with any precision or seriousness except in poetry.”

Nicolás Gómez Dávila (1913–1994) Colombian writer and philosopher

Escolios a un Texto Implicito (1977), Volume Two

God

“The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Solitude

People, Solitude

“Results always speak for themselves, always do your best to put in the work.”

Vladimer Botsvadze

“I am sure I speak for all my sisters when I say that we prefer to be known as directors, not just as women directors. To the eternal question that I am plagued with — what is the main disadvantage of being a woman director — my answer is: being endlessly harangued with this very question”

Sai Paranjpye (1938) Indian film director

FirstPost article by Chintan Girish Modi - Originally an excerpt from Sai Paranjpye's English Autobiography titled "A Patchwork Quilt: A Collage of My Creative Life", published by HarperCollins India - In A Patchwork Quilt, renowned filmmaker Sai Paranjpye reflects on her creative practice, flaws, and failures https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/in-a-patchwork-quilt-renowned-filmmaker-sai-paranjpye-reflects-on-her-creative-practice-flaws-and-failures-9087461.html - 8 December 2020 - Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20210901095737/https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/in-a-patchwork-quilt-renowned-filmmaker-sai-paranjpye-reflects-on-her-creative-practice-flaws-and-failures-9087461.html Quotes from Sai Paranjpye

Women, Question, Sister

“The musical note is the language of intelligence. Intelligence speaks wherever there is poetry, music and song. Colour is part of it. We love colours because we come from colour. Colour and sound.”

J. Posadas (1912–1981) Argentine Trotskyist (1912-1981)

On the Socialist Future of Humanity, 1981

Love, Music, Intelligence, Parting

“It was a dangerous area, for certain. There were saloons, prostitutes, everything. The real Wild West. There was no law to speak of; everyone carried weapons, and they used them. Gambling was rampant, and crime increased with the growing population.”

James Doolittle (1896–1993) United States Air Force Medal of Honor recipient

On the memories of his childhood place of Nome, Alaska in an 1993 interview, "The Extraordinary Life Of Aviation Legend Jimmy Doolittle" https://allthatsinteresting.com/jimmy-doolittle

Law

“It speaks to our feelings and imaginations, as it were by suggestion; reaching for this very reason depths of our being quite beyond the power of mere words.”

Walter Raymond Spalding (1865–1962) American music pedagogue and author

On instrumental music, page 2 https://books.google.com/books?id=pQARAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA2. Music: An Art and a Language (1920), Preliminary Considerations (Ch. I)

Feeling, Imagination

“The past and present speak to the future. The future does not speak, but waits to see what we bring to it.”

Randolph Roque Calvo (1951) Catholic bishop

Bishop visits Virginia City to give homily at final St. Mary's Mass https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2008/sep/08/bishop-visits-virginia-city-to-give-homily-at-fina/ (September 8, 2008)

Waiting, Past, Future

“Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

1940s–present, A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949)

Fools

“This is the world and this is life. The more you reply to negative words, the more they fool you, and the less you speak, the more they stupid you.”

Ayuel Monykuch (1997) South Sudanese Entrepreneur

Life, Stupidity, World, Fools

“I used to be really, really shy, which is never a good thing because you never speak up for yourself. Now I don't stop talking! But in terms of being recognised, it doesn't really happen that often. I get the odd person coming up and saying they love the films.”

Katie Leung (1987) Scottish actress

"Movies - interview - Katie Leung" in BBC (9 July 2007) http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/07/09/katie_leung_harry_potter_5_2007_interview.shtml

Love, Personality

“Don't speak about diversity and just have us there because you want to make it look like it's diverse. Meaningful representation, that's what it's all about, where the characters have real hopes and dreams and lives and it's very sincere to the culture.”

Michelle Yeoh (1962) Malaysian-born actress of Chinese ethnicity

"Michelle Yeoh Hopes Crazy Rich Asians Will Turn the Trickle of Diversity in Hollywood "Into a Stream" " in Harper's Bazaar (27 August 2018) https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a22794930/michelle-yeoh-crazy-rich-asians-interview/

Dreams, Hope, Sincerity

“Wait until you are hungry to say something, until there is an aching in you to speak. Then come back.
Don't worry. You won't have lost time. Your energy will be more direct and less wasted.”

Natalie Goldberg book Writing Down the Bones

Essay, "The Goody Two-Shoes Nature". p.140
Writing Down the Bones (1986)

Time, Waiting

“Don't speak
Don't speak no more
Cos your eyes do the talking
Don't speak
Don't speak no more
Cos your eyes do the talking
You don't have to say nothing
Say nothing
Cos your eyes do the talking”

Example (musician) (1982) English rapper and singer

"Say Nothing" (song) ("Say Nothing" on YouTube (with lyrics)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tctb0OHZnqQ Studio albums, The Evolution of Man (2012)

“Religiously speaking, we are still in the year 2021; but science claims that the Earth is around 4.5 billion years old.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Science

“War between religions and science will never end; because they speak difference languages. There is a lack of communication between them.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

War, Religion, Communication, Science

“Scientifically speaking, if my body is not the same as it was yesterday, then who am I?”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“There is as much wisdom in listening as there is in speaking - and that goes for all relationships, not just romantic ones.”

Daniel Dae Kim (1968) American actor

"Our Latest TV Crush Object? Daniel Dae Kim" in Redbook (12 October 2010) https://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/mens-perspective/interviews/a6687/daniel-dae-kim-interview/

Wisdom

“Speaking English dialogue is not easy for me. I am too lazy to learn English or speak any foreign language, so I am very grateful to my dialogue coach for helping me a lot.”

Jet Li (1963) Chinese martial artist and actor

As quoted in Actor Jet Li Agreed To Star In ‘Mulan’ For His Daughter https://in.news.yahoo.com/actor-jet-li-agreed-star-045050431.html in Yahoo News (September 7, 2020)

Learning, Help

“I can't speak for everybody, and I don't want to say it for an entire culture, but for me, coming from an immigrant family, it's very difficult to go find your voice, which requires a lot of failure.”

Lulu Wang (1983) Asian-American filmmaker

As quoted in "Lulu Wang’s The Farewell lays bare the textured lives of immigrant families" in Dazed (31 May 2019) https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/44666/1/lulu-wang-the-farewell-interview-awkwafina

Family, Failure

“The only thing I can say is, I'm not someone who draws a very clear line. I'm actually a very forgiving person. Once the trust is broken, it's difficult for me to mend the trust. I'm also someone who really believes that action speaks louder than words.”

Rebecca Lim (1986) Singaporean actress

As quoted in "My conscience is clear: Rebecca Lim on 'misunderstanding' with ex-BFF Desmond Tan" in Asia One (28 October 2020) https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/my-conscience-clear-rebecca-lim-misunderstanding-ex-bff-desmond-tan

Forgiveness, Drawing, Personality

“My motto is to always do your homework before any meeting or event, and to always dress for the occasion. Sometimes I say that it’s better to say nothing than to speak with no purpose!”

Brigitte Lin (1954) Taiwanese actress

As quoted in "Brigitte Lin on the Hong Kong Film Industry’s Golden Age" in Hong Kong Tatler (7 November 2012) https://hk.asiatatler.com/life/brigitte-lin-on-the-hong-kong-film-industry-s-golden-age

“In the elementary sense of the word, faith is our assent to a truth that transcends us; but spiritually speaking, it is our assent, not to transcendent concepts, but to immanent realities, or to Reality as such; now this Reality is our very substance.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2019, Esoterism as Principle and as Way, World Wisdom, 234, 978-1-93659765-9]
Spiritual life, Faith

Truth, Faith, Reality, Sense

“I don't fear being outspoken. The only thing I fear is losing my sense of integrity or losing sight of the values on which I guide my life. So I don't think it's particularly brave or unusual for me to speak out.”

Constance Wu (1982) American actress

As quoted in "Constance Wu Opens Up About Activism and Speaking Up For What’s Right" in Teen Vogue (27 February 2017) https://www.teenvogue.com/story/constance-wu-activism-speaking-up-whats-right-big-hundred-mirys-list

Life, Fear, Thinking, Sense

“Judge not; speak hardly at all; love and act.”

Eliphas Levi (1810–1875) French writer

Miscellaneous Quotes On the Subjects of Magic and Magicians

Love

“Descend, descend, Urania, speak
To men in their own tongue!
Leave not the breaking heart to break
Because thine own is strong.
This is the law, in dream and deed,
That heaven must walk on earth!
O, shine upon the humble creed
That holds the heavenly birth.”

Alfred Noyes (1880–1958) English poet

"The Secret Inn : 'The Kingdom is Within You'" in Master Mind Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 3 (December 1914), p. 99

Men, Law, Dreams, Birth

“Today I promise you that I will speak gavel fairly, firmly, and with responsibility. Always respecting the rules and the presidents of this house.”

Tip O'Neill (1912–1994) American politician

Housing

“The Extraordinary Form speaks, literally (because it is in Latin), and figuratively, a different language; and I think some people who need to can come back to faith through it.”

Fernando Arêas Rifan (1950) Roman Catholic bishop

Tridentine Mass draws international pilgrims to Rome https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/28324/tridentine-mass-draws-international-pilgrims-to-rome (27 October 2013)

People, Faith, Thinking

“A Prince must not speak the language of the tribunes and proclaim absolute principles in terms which are likely to deeply offend those who are of another opinion than his own.”

Pierre Emmanuel Félix Chazal (1808–1892) Belgian politician (1808-1892)

Source: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The Importance of General Chazal in Colonial Politics. http://www.ethesis.net/leopold_II/leopold_II.htm#2.%20 KMLKG, Papiers Chazal, 65/1, Chazal aan de hertog van Brabant, 28 juni 1859.

“The Church must speak out on politics, otherwise she would betray the Gospel.”

Leopoldo González González (1950) Mexican archbishop

Source: Mexican bishops defend their freedom of expression on political views https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/15600/mexican-bishops-defend-their-freedom-of-expression-on-political-views (April 4, 2009)

“We thought that we are on the way to democracy, to freedom. But again, now, it collapsed again to the military and we have no right to speak about human rights and we have practically no dialogue.”

Charles Maung Bo (1948) Burmese Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal

Source: Cardinal Bo: Called to be a voice for human rights in Myanmar https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248937/cardinal-bo-called-to-be-a-voice-for-human-rights-in-myanmar (9 September 2021)

Way, Democracy, Freedom

“A Prince must not speak the language of the tribunes and proclaim absolute principles in terms which are likely to deeply offend those who are of another opinion than his own.”

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

“Don’t be scared to live your faith. When I was young and went on my first trip I was hesitant to speak up and say that I wanted to go to Mass. When I stuck to it and showed that I lived my faith I got respect from my teammates.”

Rebecca Dussault (1980) American cross-country skier

Faith, Family and the Slopes: An Interview with Rebecca Dussault https://catholicexchange.com/faith-family-and-the-slopes-an-interview-with-rebecca-dussault (4 May 2016)

Faith

“Generally speaking, I belong to the optimist camp.”

Wang Qishan (1948) Chinese politician

Source: "China and US economies 'inseparable,' Wang Qishan tells Davos" in Nikkei Asia https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/China-and-US-economies-inseparable-Wang-Qishan-tells-Davos (24 January 2019)

“I think that individual voices are not as strong as a community of voices. If we can make a community of voices, then we can speak more truth. Also in a community, we learn to listen…”

Maxine Hong Kingston (1940) Chinese American author

Source: On the strength of a community in “’I Can Write My Shadow’: Alexis Cheung Interviews Maxine Hong Kingston” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/can-write-shadow-alexis-cheung-interviews-maxine-hong-kingston/ in Los Angeles Review of Books (2016 Dec 22)

Truth, Communication, Thinking, Strong

“Warriors speak of shamanism as a magical, mysterious bird which has paused in its flight for a moment in order to give man hope and purpose; warriors live under the wind of that bird, which they call the "bird of wisdom," the "bird of freedom."”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "The Power of Silence" (Chapter 18)

Wisdom, Hope, Bird, Freedom

“When it was my turn to speak, I recommended that the term 'tolerance' in the resolution be replaced with the phrase 'mutual respect.'”

Rajiv Malhotra book Being Different

Source: Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism (2011)
Context: .... As I noted, we 'tolerate' those we consider not good enough, but we do not extend our respect to them. 'Tolerance' implies control over those who do not conform to our norms by allowing them some, though not all, of the rights and privileges we enjoy. A religion which involves the worship of 'false gods' and whose adherents are referred to as 'heathens' can be tolerated, but it cannot be respected. Tolerance is a patronizing posture, whereas respect implies that we consider the other to be equally legitimate – a position which some religions routinely deny to others, instead declaring these 'others' to be 'idol worshippers' or 'infidels' and the like.

“I wanted to do a show to give people whom I have grown up with, whether they were Filipino, Mexican or whatever, the platform to speak for themselves.”

Padma Lakshmi (1970) Indian-born American author, actress, model, television host and executive producer

Source: "Padma Lakshmi On ‘Taste The Nation’s “Trojan Horse” Approach To Food And America – Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted" in Deadline https://deadline.com/2021/05/padma-lakshmi-interview-taste-the-nation-contenders-tv-1234748166/ (1 May 2021)

People

“I feel like all directing, writing, acting… all things feed into one another in a cool way. It’s just one of those jobs where it’s not too difficult to jump around because they’re all interconnected so to speak.”

Tania Raymonde (1988) American actress

Source: Interview: Tania Raymonde Talks ‘Deep Blue Sea 3’ https://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2020/08/20/interview-tania-raymonde-talks-deep-blue-sea-3/ (Aug 20, 2020)

Way, Feeling

“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,—there, if one must speak out, the real man.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations (c. AD 121–180), Book X, 38

Life

“Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's naming.’
For the loser now will be later to win”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Source: Song lyrics, The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964), The Times They Are A-Changin

Chance

“It's our *white* responsibility to make sure people who speak out about racism are safe at all times. This means ending structural racism in our societies, authorities and media.”

Carola Rackete (1988) German merchant navy captain

Source: Twitter https://twitter.com/CaroRackete/status/1276803845465636864 (27 June 2020)

People, Time

“I speak in general. I think that Putin does not understand that criticizing power can help this power. How do we fight corruption in the United States? There are two forces - independent media and powerful opposition party.”

Michael McFaul (1963) American academic and diplomat

"Izvestia Interview with Michael McFaul" in Carnegie Endowment for World Peace https://carnegieendowment.org/2002/05/15/izvestia-interview-with-michael-mcfaul-pub-984 (15 May 2002)

Understanding, Thinking, Help, Fight

“It’s incumbent upon all people to believe in the facts and to keep pushing it. You can’t constrain free speech, but you can speak more loudly about what is factual.”

Michael McFaul (1963) American academic and diplomat

"An Interview with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul" in LA Times High School Insider https://highschool.latimes.com/carnegie-mellon-university/an-interview-with-former-u-s-ambassador-to-russia-michael-mcfaul/ (30 August 2019)

People

“I have a platform and a following of millions of people, many of whom I know have been through exactly what I have. And if I tell my story, as painful and flip floppy and flawed as it is, I know it will mean something to someone, as every time someone speaks openly about sexuality, it saves lives.”

Dan Howell (1991) British video blogger and radio personality

Pain, People, Time

“Speak up against those who cannot speak for themselves. Let’s speak in the language of the youths. Visit schools visit hospitals. What assistance do we offer those who cannot help themselves? We should assist rape victims. We should be the voice of the society.”

Folake Solanke (1932) Nigerian lawyer

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/03/kidnap-of-schoolgirls-stop-paying-ransom-to-criminals-solanke-tells-fg/ Folake Solanke in 2021 speaking out against the ills in society.

Youth, School, Help

“I believe it is important to speak to your readers in person... to enable people to have a whole picture of me; I have to both write and speak. I view my role as a writer and also as an oral communicator.”

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017) author

Source: On speaking to readers in “Interview with Buchi Emecheta” http://www.emeagwali.com/nigeria/biography/buchi-emecheta-voice-09jul96.html (Philip Emeagwali)

People, Communication, Personality

“I'm tired of speaking for hours, so from now on, I will reduce the duration of my 'Returning Happiness to People' speech ever [sic] Friday and will have my ministers who oversee each topic to speak in the programme.”

Prayut Chan-o-cha (1954) Thai military officer, junta chief, and politician

"Returning happiness to the people" speeches Source: PM to shorten 'Return to happiness' speeches but in the end happiness is never come true http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PM-to-shorten-Return-to-happiness-speeches-30257143.html (31 March 2015)

Happiness, People

“If speaking is still difficult to negotiate, then writing has created a free space for most women -much freer than speech. The book is bound, circulated, read. It retains its autonomy much more than a woman is allowed in the oral situation”

Yvonne Vera (1964–2005) Zimbabwean writer

Opening Spaces: An Anthology of Contemporary African Women's Writing, August 11, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Spaces-Anthology-Contemporary-African/dp/0435910108

Women, Books, Reading

“Instead of determining the action of life, ends, norms and values are determined by it. This determination consists in the fact that one experiences oneself constantly and knows oneself at every moment. Life also knows at each instant what must be done and what is suited to it. This knowledge is no different from action. It does not precede it or "determine" it, properly speaking. It is identical to it, as the original know-how of life, as praxis and a living body. Action, as we have seen, is only the actualization of the primitive power of this phenomenological body.”

Michel Henry (1922–2002) French writer

Michel Henry, Barbarism, Continuum, 2012, p. 96-97
Books on Culture and Barbarism, Barbarism (1987)

Life, Knowledge

“Speaking of women's favours, M. de ... used to say: It is an auction room business, and neither feeling nor merit are ever successful bidders.”

Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794) French writer

Maxims and Considerations, #362
Original: (fr) Il me semble, disait M. de…, à propos des faveurs des femmes, qu'à la vérité, cela se dispute au concours, mais que cela ne se donne ni au sentiment, ni au mérite.
Original: (fr) Maximes et Pensées, #362

Women, Feeling, Business, Success

“There are as many reasons to be silent as there are to speak, and as many ways to hear meaning in the sounds of silence.”

Laurence Tribe (1941) American lawyer and law school professor

Soundings and Silences (2016)

Way, Silence

“The pressure to speak is constant and intolerable. However, I resisted most of it.”

Calvin Coolidge book The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge

Source: The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge (1929)

“You are not weak. You are brave. One of the bravest I know. Speaking your truth, a person living at the intersection of multiple identities, unapologetically, takes courage. I love you”

Jurnee Smollett (1986) American actress

14 February 2019 https://twitter.com/jurneesmollett/status/1096168270506258432 re Jussie Smollett (older brother)

Love, Truth, Courage, Personality

“The Church has two missions. Its first mission is to address its own members; not just those who were baptised but also those who after being baptised have chosen to embrace the Church's teachings and embark on a spiritual journey that passes through the Church. When I speak as the bishop of these people I have to put everything in the light of the Gospel. When I speak to society at large, and I know there are people who embrace this position and others who don't, I have a duty to pass on the Church's message.”

Paul Cremona (1946) Catholic archbishop

Source: Lead us not into temptation https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/lead-us-not-into-temptation.314940 (27 June 2010)

People, Light

“The evils and dangers of which I speak are of slow growth, and their cure can only be gradual. Unless Great Britain is able by a united and well-instructed effort to grapple with her economic problems, and unless she is worthy to be the heart of her world-wide establishment, you here in this hall today will live long enough to lose not only your inheritance, but your livelihood. The continuance of our present confusion and disintegration will reduce us within a generation, and perhaps sooner, to the degree of States like Holland and Portugal, which nursed valiant races and held great possessions, but were stripped of them in the crush and competition of the world. That would be a melancholy end to all the old glories and recent triumphs.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Source: Rectorial address ("The present decline of Parliamentary government in Great Britain") to Edinburgh University (5 March 1931), quoted in The Times (6 March 1931), p. 19

World, Problem, Effort, Evil

“How much more evidence is necessary? Good schools don’t need more money or a longer year; they need real free-market choices, variety that speaks to every need and runs risks. We don’t need a national curriculum, or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn, or deliberate indifference to it.”

John Taylor Gatto (1935–2018) American teacher, book author

Source: "I Quit, I Think" (1991)

Money, People, School, Learning

“A time came when the Catholics, having long relied on force, were compelled to appeal to opinion. That which had been defiantly acknowledged and defended required to be ingeniously explained away. The same motive which had justified the murder now prompted the lie. Men shrank from the conviction that the rulers and restorers of their Church had been murderers and abetters of murder, and that so much infamy had been coupled with so much zeal. They feared to say that the most monstrous of crimes had been solemnly approved at Rome, lest they should devote the Papacy to the execration of mankind. A swarm of facts were invented to meet the difficulty: The victims were insignificant in number; they were slain for no reason connected with religion; the Pope believed in the existence of the plot; the plot was a reality; the medal is fictitious; the massacre was a feint concerted with the Protestants themselves; the Pope rejoiced only when he heard that it was over. These things were repeated so often that they have been sometimes believed; and men have fallen into this way of speaking whose sincerity was unimpeachable, and who were not shaken in their religion by the errors or the vices of Popes. Möhler was pre-eminently such a man. In his lectures on the history of the Church, which were published only last year, he said that the Catholics, as such, took no part in the massacre; that no cardinal, bishop, or priest shared in the councils that prepared it; that Charles informed the Pope that a conspiracy had been discovered; and that Gregory made his thanksgiving only because the King's life was saved. Such things will cease to be written when men perceive that truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.”

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) British politician and historian

Source: 1860s, The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew (1869)

Life, Men, Truth, Lie

“How can Christian theology truly speak of the hope of Jesus Christ, unless that hope begins and ends with the liberation of the poor in the social existence in which theology takes shape? In America this means that there can be no talk about hope in the Christian sense unless it is talk about the freedom of black, red, and brown people.”

James H. Cone (1938–2018) American theologian

Source: God of the Oppressed (1975, 1997), p. 128 (1975 edition)

People, Hope, Sense, Freedom

“The soul is silent.
If it speaks at all
it speaks in dreams.”

Louise Glück (1943–2023) American poet

Source: "Child Crying Out", Ararat (1990)

Dreams, Soul

“It is unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm moves the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth.”

Arthur James Balfour (1848–1930) British Conservative politician and statesman

Chief Secretary for Ireland
Source: Letter to Mary Gladstone Drew (17 May 1891), in Some Hawarden Letters, 1878–1913, Written to Mrs. Drew (Miss Mary Gladstone) Before and After Her Marriage, chosen and arranged by Lisle March-Phillipps and Bertram Christian (London: Nisbet & Co., 1917), p. 248.

Truth, World

“Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Source: https://www.facebook.com/100044605381690/posts/512632483566927/?d=n

Truth

“Sometimes we will speak softly and carry a large Javelin.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

Source: President Biden says on new aid to Ukraine, putting a twist on Roosevelt's phrase.

“I say to myself, and also to many believers I speak to, that our main weapons, so to speak, are humility, surrendering ourselves totally to God, solidarity, and love. Because in any case if we are here for each other, if we are close to God, if we are faithful, He will look after us.”

Visvaldas Kulbokas (1974) Lithuanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church

Nuncio to Ukraine: “This war is not a purely human invention, there is something demonic about it; we can only defeat evil together, with prayer, humility, and love” https://acninternational.org/nuncio-to-ukraine-this-war-is-not-a-purely-human-invention-there-is-something-demonic-about-it-we-can-only-defeat-evil-together-with-prayer-humility-and-love/ (10 March 2022)

Love, God, Faith

“If listening was as important as speaking, you would have twice as many ears as mouths.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

“I only speak to drown out my thoughts.”

Ron English (1959) American artist

Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)

“Most people neither hear nor understand God speaking in their hearts: they listen to the urging of passion, which inhabits the soul and with its clamour drowns the still small voice of God.”

Sophrony (Sakharov) (1896–1993) Russian monk, theologian and writer

Source: Saint Silouan the Athonite (1991), p. 79

God, People, Soul, Understanding

“It’s on all of us to stand up, to speak out when you see someone being abused. This is an organization that’s defined American — excuse me, defeated American enemies on land, sea, and air, and been defined by the way we treat others.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2021, February 2021, Remarks by President Biden to Department of Defense Personnel, February 10, 2021

Way, Sea

“Let me tell you, if anyone in the past has spoken
ill of women, or speaks so now or will speak so
in the future, I’ll sum it up for him: Neither sea
nor land has ever produced a more monstrous
creature than woman.”

Euripidés book Hecuba

Hecuba, lines 1178-1182 ( tr. Jay Kardan and Laura-Gray Street (2010) http://didaskalia.net/issues/8/32/) Variant ( tr. E. P. Coleridge (1938) http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg007.perseus-eng1:1145-1186): [I]f any of the men of former times have spoken ill of women, if any does so now, or shall do so hereafter, I will say all this in one short sentence; for neither land or sea produces such a race, as whoever has had to do with them knows.

Women, Past, Future, Sea

“We cannot speak of human rights without centering our attention on conscience, one among a few distinctive features that make humans human‒and humane.”

Marco Respinti (1964)

"Tai Ji Men: A Voyage to the Center of Conscience" https://bitterwinter.org/tai-ji-men-a-voyage-to-the-center-of-conscience/

“I have a problem in living which century I live. When I read those manuscripts, I'm taken away there. Sometimes I'm totally taken with them, with the monks and the ancient libraries and the ancient monasteries and then, when someone passes by me in their office and speaks English, I say, "What?" But then I realize I am in an English-speaking world.”

Getatchew Haile (1931–2021) Ethiopian-American philologist; scholar of the Ge'ez language

Preserving Words and Worlds https://onbeing.org/programs/columba-stewart-and-getatchew-haile-preserving-words-and-worlds/ (19 January 2009)

World, Problem, Reading

“You can learn more about a person by watching them eat one meal than by listening to them speak for a whole day.”

Charles Sheffield book Proteus In The Underworld

Source: Behrooz Wolf (aka The Proteus Trilogy), Proteus In The Underworld (1995), Chapter 2 (p. 11)

Learning, Personality

“In China, literally in elementary school, we have to sit a certain way. You can't raise your hand anytime, you can’t speak in class. So, it takes a lot of courage and experimenting to kind of try to break that.”

Fala Chen (1982) Hong Kong actress

"Fala Chen Came to America to Find Herself—And Wound Up Being Cast in a Groundbreaking Marvel Movie" in Harpers Bazaar https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a37711969/fala-chen-shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings/ (24 September 2021)

School, Way, Courage

“Speaking of the agriculture, we should at least stop selling grain but instead we should process it, for example, into meat or meat products.”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

Source: * Янукович: Перерабатывать зерно в мясо ** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAmDEwlydIw ** en ** 2022-06-12 ** 2009-12-25

“I would like to say that in the end, our task should be, if we are speaking of metal, to process it to the highest depth so that we can trade with the most sophisticated products...”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

Source: * Янукович: Перерабатывать зерно в мясо ** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAmDEwlydIw ** en ** 2022-06-12 ** 2009-12-25

“Man is one name belonging to every nation upon earth. In them all is one soul though many tongues. Every country has its own language, yet the subjects of which the untutored soul speaks are the same everywhere.”

Tertullian (155–220) Christian theologian

De Testimonio Animae (The Testimony of the Soul), 6.3 The Soul's Testimony https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0309.htm Original: (la) Omnium gentium unus homo, uarium nomen est, una anima, uaria uox, unus spiritus, uarius sonus, propria cuique genti loquella, sed loquellae materia communis.

Soul, Country