Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know. —LAO ZI, The Way of Lao Zi Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of silence, living alone automatically makes me refrain from the sins of speech. —KAMO NO CHOMEI, 12th Century Japanese recluse And compare them to proverbs from the West: Be a craftsman in speech that thou mayest be strong, for the strength of one is the tongue, and speech is mightier than all fighting. —MAXIMS OF PTAHHOTEP, 2400 B.C.E. Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence
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