This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Diogenes Laërtius, aka "Diogenes the Cynic"
We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.
A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
Juvenal, fully Decimus Junius Juvenalis NULL
The very inclination to sin entails penalties.
Character | Inclination | Sin |
Roger L'Estrange, fully Sir Roger L'Estrange
Much tongue and much judgment seldom go together.
It is the inclination and tendency of the heart which finally determines the opinions of the mind.
Character | Heart | Inclination | Mind |
He, who has no inclination to learn more, will be very apt to think that he knows enough.
If thy words be too luxuriant, confine them, lest they confide thee; he that thinks he never can speak enough may easily speak too much. A full tongue and an empty brain are seldom parted.
When anger swells the heart, the idly-barking tongue restrain.
Richard Steele, fully Sir Richard Steele
It is a secret known but to few, yet of no small use in the conduct of life, that when you fall into a man's conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him.
Character | Conduct | Conversation | Inclination | Life | Life | Man |
For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been."
The tongue of a man is the rudder of a ship, but the Universal Lord is its pilot.