m ourselves, but
exposes us to others.

General von Moltke, perhaps the greatest strategist of this century,
had, as a foundation for his other talents, the power to "hold his
tongue in seven languages." A young man went to Socrates to learn
oratory. On being introduced, he talked so incessantly that Socrates
asked for double fees. "Why charge me double?" asked the young fellow.
"Because," said the orator, "I must teach you two sciences: the one how
to hold your tongue, the other how to speak." The first is the more
difficult.

Half the actual trouble of life would be saved if people would remember
that silence is golden, when they are irritated, vexed, or annoyed.

To feel provoked or exasperated at a trifle, when the nerves are
exhausted, is, perhaps, natural to us in our imperfect state. But why
put into the shape of speech the annoyance which, once uttered, is
remembered; which may burn like a blistering wound, or rankle like a
poisoned arrow? If a child be crying or a friend capricious, or a
servant unreasonable, be careful what you say. Do not speak while you
feel the impulse of anger, for you will be almost certain to say too
much, to say more than your cooler judgment will approve, and to speak
in a way that you will regret. Be silent until the "sweet by and by,"
when you will be calm, rested, and self-controlled.

"Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a
fool than of him."

"Silence," says Zimmerman, "is the safest response for all the
contradiction that arises from impertinence, vulgarity, or envy."

In rhetoric, as Emerson truly says, this art of omission is the chief
secret of power. "Everything tells in favor of the man who talks but
little. The presumption is that he is a superior man; and if, in point
of fact, he is not a sheer blockhead, the presumption then is that he
is very superior indeed." Grant was master of the science of silence.

The self-controlled are self-possessed. "Sir, the house is on fire!"
shrieked a frightened servant, running into Dr. Lawson's study. "Go
and tell your mistress," said the preoccupied professor, without
looking up from the book he was reading; "you know I have no charge of
household matters." A woman whose house was on fire threw a
looking-glass out of the window, and carried a pair of andirons several
rods to a safe place beside a stone wall. "Presence of mind and
courage in distress are more than armies to procure su