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Of keeping silence few have paid the cost;
Of having said too much, a countless host.

— Francesco Berni

Pochi si son del silenzio pentiti;
De l'aver troppo parlato, infmiti.

Original text (Italian)

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Notes from Wikiquote

XLI, 3.

Topics

Silence

More quotes by Francesco Berni

Non vien si tardi il mal che non sia presto.

Never a man unblemished virtue shows,
Save when he is the butt of fortune's blows.

He still fought stoutly on—and he was dead.

Whoe'er he be, none more than human deem,
And each may speak as good to him doth seem.

Nor power nor pleasure e'er can be enjoyed,
What time they with suspicion are alloyed.

All Francesco Berni quotes →

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To sin by silence, when we should protest,
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Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.

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There are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence.

Benedict of Nursia

I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?

Federico Fellini I'm a Born Liar (2003)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Francesco Berni (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.