NATURE has given man one tongue, but two ears, that we may hear twice as much as we speak.
WHETHER thou speak in the Senate, or whether thou speak to any particular person, let thy speech be always grave and modest. But thou must not openly and vulgarly observe that sound and exact form of speaking, concerning that which is truly good and truly evil, the vanity of the world and of worldly men, which otherwise truth and reason both prescribe.
LET not your laughter be much, nor often, nor profuse.
USE thyself when any man speaks unto thee, so to hearken unto him, as that in the interim, thou give not way to any other thoughts; that so thou mayest (as far as is possible) seem fixed and fastened to his very soul, whosoever he be that speaks unto thee.
Attributed to EPICTETUS.
WHETHER thou speak in the Senate, or whether thou speak to any particular person, let thy speech be always grave and modest. But thou must not openly and vulgarly observe that sound and exact form of speaking, concerning that which is truly good and truly evil, the vanity of the world and of worldly men, which otherwise truth and reason both prescribe.
MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book viii. 27.
LET not your laughter be much, nor often, nor profuse.
EPICTETUS. MANUAL. 33.
USE thyself when any man speaks unto thee, so to hearken unto him, as that in the interim, thou give not way to any other thoughts; that so thou mayest (as far as is possible) seem fixed and fastened to his very soul, whosoever he be that speaks unto thee.
MARCUS AURELIUS. MEDITATIONS. Book vi. 48.
Be present in all your conversation. Pay attention to the person who is speaking to you. Then you will know what is really being said, and they will know that thay are really being heard .
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