100+ Impactful 'Think Before You Speak' Quotes for Mindful Communication
When we think before we speak, we safeguard our relationships and make well-considered contributions to conversations. The power of words can be transformative, for better or worse. This article delves into timeless quotes that remind us of the importance of reflecting before we utter our thoughts. Whether for personal betterment or professional interactions, these quotes will inspire mindfulness, empathy, and wisdom in your speech. Let's explore ten curated themes, each with twelve enlightening quotes, that capture the essence of thoughtful communication.
"Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech." - Plutarch
"In the silence, the heart listens." - Unknown
"Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something." - Plato
"Sometimes, it’s best to be quiet. Quiet is both wise and beautiful." - Unknown
"We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Speak only if it improves upon the silence." - Mahatma Gandhi
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Unknown
"Silence is a source of great strength." - Lao Tzu
"Let your words be the few that inspire rather than the many that tire." - Unknown
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." - Abraham Lincoln
"We need silence to be able to touch souls." - Mother Teresa
"Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom." - Francis Bacon
"To understand someone, listen not just to their words, but to their silence." - Unknown
"Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective." - Unknown
"Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity." - Roy T. Bennett
"Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet." - Krista Tippett
"Compassion is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain
"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said." - Peter Drucker
"Words are windows, or they’re walls." - Ruth Bebermeyer
"Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you." - Aaron Goldman
"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say." - Bryant McGill
"When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new." - Dalai Lama
"Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another." - Alfred Adler
"You never truly understand someone until you consider things from his point of view." - Harper Lee
"The first duty of love is to listen." - Paul Tillich
"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply." - Stephen R. Covey
"The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer." - Henry David Thoreau
"One of the most valuable gifts we can offer to another person is an open mind." - Unknown
"The quieter you become, the more you can hear." - Unknown
"It takes a great man to be a good listener." - Calvin Coolidge
"Listening is an art that requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over self." - Unknown
"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk." - Doug Larson
"There's no greater way to gain an understanding of life than to listen to others." - Unknown
"Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking." - Bernard Baruch
"You can’t listen when you’re talking." - Unknown
"To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well." - Chinese Proverb
"Before you speak, think – is it necessary, is it true, is it kind, will it hurt anyone, is it useful?" - Buddha
"Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder." - Rumi
"A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress." - Andrew Newberg
"The tongue has no bones, but it is strong enough to break a heart. So be careful with your words." - Unknown
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa
"May your words be seasoned with wisdom and grace." - Unknown
"Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another." - Napoleon Hill
"Talk to people as if they are the wisest and most beautiful souls you know." - Unknown
"The best way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit down and talk." - Dalai Lama
"As a man speaks, so is he." - Proverb
"Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can only be forgiven, not forgotten." - Unknown
"Speak less than you know; have more than you show." - William Shakespeare
"A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves a thousand moments of regret." - Ali Ibn Abi Talib
"The words you speak become the house you live in." - Hafiz
"The more you know, the less you need to say." - Jim Rohn
"Before you open your mouth to speak, think if what you have to say is better than silence." - Unknown
"Respond, don’t react. Listen, think and then respond." - Unknown
"Wise words are like seeds. The more you scatter them, the more they will grow into infinite gardens of knowledge." - Unknown
"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." - Proverbs 15:1
"Speak from your heart, not your rage." - Unknown
"The quieter you become the more you can hear." - Ram Dass
"The answers you seek never come when the mind is busy; they come when the mind is still." - Leon Brown
"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." - Colossians 4:6
"The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause." - Mark Twain
"Think before you speak. Read before you think." - Fran Lebowitz
"Make your words your finest creation." - Unknown
"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." - William Shakespeare
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can wreck my soul." - Unknown
"Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead." - Brené Brown
"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." - Marilyn Vos Savant
"The world belongs to those who think and act. It belongs to those who dream, but more importantly, to those who take the necessary steps to make their dreams a reality." - Unknown
"The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions." - Claude Levi-Strauss
"Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind." - Theodore Roosevelt
"Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot." - Thomas Moore
"Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know." - Lao Tzu
"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic." - J.K. Rowling
"Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well." - Robin Sharma
"Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs." - Pearl Strachan Hurd
"Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble." - Yehuda Berg
"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." - Leo Tolstoy
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." - Marianne Williamson
"A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever." - Jessamyn West
"The tongue is the only tool that gets sharper with use." - Washington Irving
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue." - Proverbs 18:21
"The words you say never go unheard, you never know who's listening." - Tammy Stevens
"Keep your words soft and tender, because tomorrow you may have to eat them." - Unknown
"The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause." - Mark Twain
"Influence is about others, not just you and your ideas." - John C. Maxwell
"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend." - Abraham Lincoln
"He who influences the thought of his times influences the times that follow." - Elbert Hubbard
"Persuasion is often more effectual than force." - Aesop
"The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority." - Ken Blanchard
"Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means." - Albert Einstein
"The effective use of words and thoughts influence others to take action." - William H. Gillen
"No one lives forever. Live with the knowledge that the influence you have over others will leave them with hope." - Unknown
"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example." - John Wooden
"The only thing that has influenced me is what I read and my own imagination." - George McGovern
"Leadership is not about a title or a designation; it’s about impact, influence, and inspiration." - Robin S. Sharma
"What you do has far greater impact than what you say." - Stephen Covey
"Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret." - Ambrose Bierce
"When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred." - Thomas Jefferson
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." - Mark Twain
"Even a fish wouldn’t get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut." - Unknown
"Speak wisely, and—with such words—may the world be a little brighter." - Unknown
"Remember, every time you open your mouth to talk, your mind walks out and parades up and down the words." - Edwin Myers
"One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is that his tail wags instead of his tongue." - Unknown
"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact." - George Eliot
"Use soft words and hard arguments." - English Proverb
"Talk with the wise and you'll become wise, talk with the fools and you'll only hear foolish things." - Unknown
"The quieter you become, the more you're able to hear." - Rumi
"Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out." - Unknown
"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Socrates
"The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates
"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates
"Beware the barrenness of a busy life." - Socrates
"An unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates
"Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down." - Socrates
"Know thyself." - Socrates
"Let him that would move the world first move himself." - Socrates
"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have." - Socrates
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
"Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual." - Socrates
"From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate." - Socrates
