Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

A time comes when you can't afford to be silent

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.