Confine your tongue, lest it confine you.

Meaning: Careless speech invites consequences that restrict your freedom far more than silence ever could.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

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…

← Back to Proverbs

Loading the full interactive collection…