Confine your tongue, lest it confine you.
Meaning: Careless speech invites consequences that restrict your freedom far more than silence ever could.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Communication
- Keep your tongue within your teeth. — Silence prevents harm; unspoken words cannot wound or betray you.
- The tongue's not steel, yet it cuts. — Words inflict wounds as deep as any blade, leaving scars that heal far more slowly.
- The tongue talks at the head's cost. — Reckless speech brings consequences the speaker must bear, not those who merely listen.
- Who has not a good tongue, ought to have good hands. — Lacking eloquence in speech, one must compensate through skilled physical labor or useful…
- That is true which all men say. — What everyone believes requires no individual verification; consensus substitutes for per…
- Speak the truth and shame the devil. — Truth-telling defeats deception by exposing falsehood's powerlessness against honest word…
From our compliments & insults
- Você tem muita garra — You have fierce, relentless determination — you claw your way through any obstacle.
- Ты умница (ty umnitsa) — You're bright, clever, and admirable — said warmly of someone who handles things well.
- У тебя золотые руки (u tebya zolotye ruki) — You're extraordinarily skilled — able to make or fix anything with your hands.