“Silence your lips so that your heart may speak.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Compel yourselves; say the Prayer; stop idle talk; close your mouths to criticism; place doors and locks against unnecessary words. Time passes and does not come back, and woe to us if time goes by without spiritual profit.”
Elder Ephraim of Arizona
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“If upon starting a conversation you realize that it is sinful – terminate it by saying: “No, we won’t talk about this,” or, having remained silent for a few moments, say: “I have forgotten what I wanted to say,” – and switch the conversation to a different non-sinful topic.”
Saint Barsanuphius the Great Elder of Gaza and Saint John the Prophet
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“Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“Silence is a wonderful thing. If you learn to control your tongue, you shall experience the joy of keeping silence.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
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“You should only speak when what you have to say is better than silence.”
Saint Gregory the Theologian
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“Look with your eyes, but don’t see anything. Listen with your ears, but don’t hear anything. Do not blaspheme with your mouth, put a lock over your mouth as to not transfer words from one person to another. Have love for everyone. Shelter others so that you can be sheltered by God. Have patience my dear children, lots of patience.”
Saint Sophia Kleisoura
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“He who keeps watch over the words he is about to say, also keeps watch over the deeds he is about to do.”
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
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“Your tongue longs to jump into argument, but restrain it. It is a tyrant, and you must fight it daily seventy times seven.”
Saint John Climacus
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“God has surrounded the tongue with a double wall with the barrier of the teeth, the fence of the lips in order that it may not easily and heedlessly utter words it shouldn’t speak.”
Saint John Chrysostom
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“The Fathers did not ask for many words. They received one Spiritual word, left for the desert, and lived for many years with that word. They attempted to put it into practice and they were nourished by it. We say, and we want to hear, lots of words, but we do nothing to put them into practice. When someone talks a lot, he becomes Spiritually weak.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Remember, when you speak, you give birth to the word, you have spoken the word, and it will never die, but will live until the Last Judgment.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“My son! Do not multiply words; excessive talk will drive away the Spirit of God from you.”
Saint Anthony the Great
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“Silence is he mystery of the age to come.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“No Spiritual exercise can be compared with silence.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“The person who has entered onto the path of silence must constantly remember why he has done so. This is so that the heart may not be turned away from its purpose toward something else.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“He who has humbled himself within will not be cheated by his lips; for what is not in the treasury cannot be brought out through this door.”
Saint John Climacus
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“If men of our day simply restrained their tongues and stopped insulting each other, then half of all the evil in the world, and half of the evil spirits, would disappear.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
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“The Soul is restored to health by silence. It is therefore necessary to train oneself to silence – and this is a labor that brings sweetness to the heart. It is through silence that a man reaches peace from unwanted thoughts.”
Saint Justin Popovich of Serbia
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Abba Sisoes expressed himself freely one day, saying, “Have confidence: for thirty years I have not Prayed to God about my faults, but I have made this Prayer to him: “Lord Jesus, save me from my tongue,” and until now every day, I fall because of it, and commit sin.”
Saint Sisoes the Great
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“When you have to speak, before expressing what has entered your heart and letting it pass to your tongue, examine it carefully; and you will find many things that are better not let past your lips. Know moreover that many things, which it seems to you good to express, are much better left buried in the tomb of silence.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“I prescribe fasting for my tongue, to break itself of the habit of idle chatter and to speak reservedly only those words that clear the way for You to come.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“If someone offended you with a word don’t answer. By silence you disarm a person.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Keep your mouth shut in the hour of crisis, when a problem is acute. Do not say anything, because you may regret it a thousand times. Instead, tell it to the Angels so that they may place it at the Lord’s Feet, and Pray the Lord for an Angel of Peace to calm your Soul.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“Few words, much love… The powers of darkness are waiting for an opportunity. Let us not talk, so that we do not regret it.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“If man seems to be silent, but his heart condemns others, then he is always speaking. There may be a man who talks all day long, but he is actually silent, because he says nothing unprofitable.”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“Whoever speaks on account of God, does well, and whoever is silent on account of God, that one also does well.”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“Above anything, welcome silence, for it brings fruits that no tongue can speak of, neither can it be explained.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Do not speak many words; let them be few, but Blessed. Love God, and your heart will shine like the sun.”
Saint Sophia Kleisoura
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“A man who cannot control his tongue will never control his passions.”
Saint Philaret of Moscow
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“The friend of silence comes close to God. In secret he converses with him and receives His Light.”
Saint John Climacus
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