"When a person should be spoken with,..." - Quote by Confucius
When a person should be spoken with, and you don't speak with them, you lose them. When a person shouldn't be spoken with and you speak to them, you waste your breath. The wise do not lose people, nor do they waste their breath.
More by Confucius
“The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.”
“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.”
“One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any men, save those that are truly good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel.”
More on Communication
“In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the poor fellow who walks away with the greatest number of letters, proud of his extensive correspondence, has not heard from himself this long while.”
“Listen twice as much as you speak.”
“Words enable us to transfer our thoughts from inside our own mind into the mind of another. They have the power to alter history, to describe the past, and to bring meaning and substance to the present.”
More on Wisdom
“The vices enter into the composition of the virtues, as poisons into that of medicines. Prudence collects and arranges them, and uses them beneficially against the ills of life.”
“Look at the moon in the sky, not the one in the lake.”
“The greatness of a person lies in his heart, not in his head; that is intellect.”