Speech

[G]o out and speak for the inarticulate and the submerged.
~ William Maxwell Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), quoted in Maugham (1980).

Only madmen seize the story
With coals of fire upon their tongue.
~ William Rose Benét, from Starry Harness (1933). Nebular Hypothesis

I came here to die, not make a speech.
~ Cherokee Bill (Crawford Goldsby), (17 March 1896).

I do not object to people looking at their watches when I am speaking. But I strongly object when they start shaking them to make sure they are still going.
~ William Norman Birkett, in Observer (30 October 1960).

Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

But what is the use of preaching the Gospel to men whose whole attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive?
~ William Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out (October 1890). Part I. -- The Darkness. Chapter V. On the Verge of the Abyss

You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, & you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue.
~ William Blake, from Blake's Sequel to his Description of the Picture of the 'Last Judgment' (c. 1810).

When you drive men from the public arena, where debate is free, you send them to the cellar, where revolutions are born. Better an uproar than a whisper.
~ William Edgar Borah, Speech Before the U.S. Senate (24 April 1929).

When you make speeches, you elicit expectations against which you will be held accountable.
~ William Bradley, PBS TV (3 March 1990).

Freedom of speech does not exist in the abstract. On the contrary, the right to speak can flourish only if it is allowed to operate in an effective forum -- whether it be a public park or a radio frequency. For in the absence of an effective means of communications, the right to speak would ring hollow indeed. And, in recognition of these principles, we have consistently held that the First Amendment embodies, not only the abstract right to be free from censorship, but also the right of the individual to utilize an appropriate and effective medium for the expression of his views.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (dissenting opinion), Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U.S. 94 (1973)

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (majority opinion), Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989).

The risk of being overheard by an eavesdropper or betrayed by an informer or deceived as to the identity of one with whom one deals is probably inherent in the conditions of human society. It is the kind of risk we necessarily assume whenever we speak.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (dissenting opinion), Lopez v. United States, 373 U.S. 427 (1963).

[S]peechmaking in the beginning grew out of man's first attempts at self-government, that it is inherent in a free society, that a course in speech ought to be based on this concept, and speech training in a free society ought to be recognized as being essentially at variance with that in countries where governments are sustained by thought control.
~ William Norwood Brigance, Speech: Its Techniques and Disciplines in a Free Society (1952).

As debate is rare in the House of Representatives, since nearly all real business is done in the committees, it is very natural that such debate as there is should be very oratorical, should be "sounding off," not discussion. And this is one of the reasons why public speaking in America is still so rhetorical, why audiences for example do not often "heckle" a speaker, bombard him with questions, or embarrass him with ironical applause or laughter. It is almost as rare to interrupt a political speech as it is to interrupt a sermon. In the Senate, things are different. Any senator who can get the floor can talk as long as his wind lasts. He cannot be out of order unless he takes the most extravagant liberties. So Senate debates are often lively, often educational.
~ Denis William (D.W.) Brogan, The American Character (1944). Part 2. Chapter 3

As long as there are human rights to be defended; as long as there are great interests to be guarded; as long as the welfare of nations is a matter for discussion, so long will public speaking have its place.
~ William Jennings Bryan, The World's Famous Orations, Volume I (1906). Introduction

Eloquent speech is not from lip to ear, but rather from heart to heart.
~ William Jennings Bryan, The World's Famous Orations, Volume I (1906). Introduction

He borrows from the philosopher his principles, from the poet his language, from the warrior his courage, and mingling with these his own enthusiasms, leads his hearers according to his will.
~ William Jennings Bryan (on oratory), (1877)

Don't talk too much or too soon.
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, quoted in Criswell Freeman The Book of Football Wisdom: Common Sense and Uncommon Genius from 101 Gridiron Greats (1996).

The average Southerner has the speech patterns of someone slipping in and out of consciousness. I can change my shoes and socks faster than most people in Mississippi can speak a sentence.
~ Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America (1989).

[P]roverbs are concise, witty and wise speeches, grounded upon long experience, containing for the most part good caveats, and therefore both profitable and delightful.
~ William Camden, Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine (1605).

One powerful impediment to extemporary public speaking might be obviated, or at least diminished, by the simple reflection, that the largest audience is only an assemblage of units; for what man of ordinary abilities finds difficulty or embarrassment in expressing his ideas on any subject with which he is familiar, before a single individual?
~ William Benton (W.B.) Clulow, Horæ otiosæ; or, Thoughts, Maxims, and Opinions (1833). Part III. On Life, Men, and Manners

The best orators owe half their inspiration to the music of their own voice.
~ William Benton (W.B.) Clulow, from Aphorisms and Reflections: A Miscellany of Thought and Opinion (1843). On Mind, Studies, and Intellectual Habits

Give me thy hand, and let me hear thy voice;
Nay, quickly speak to me, and let me hear
Thy voice -- my own affrights me with its echoes.
~ William Congreve, The Mourning Bride (1697). Act II, scene iii

Oh, who would not lose his speech, upon condition to have joys above it!
~ William Congreve, The Double Dealer (1694).

A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct;
The language plain, and incidents well link'd;
Tell not as new what ev'ry body knows;
And, new or old, still hasten to a close.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Conversation

For truth self-evident, with pomp impress'd,
Is vanity surpassing all the rest.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Hope

He that dares traduce, because he can with safety to himself, is not a man.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Expostulation

All jealousy must still be strangled in its birth; or time will soon conspire to make it strong enough to overcome the truth.
~ Sir William Davenant, The Cruel Brother (1630). Act IV, Scene I

To be apt in quotation is a splendid and dangerous gift. Splendid, because it ornaments a man's speech with other men's jewels; dangerous, for the same reason.
~ (William) Robertson Davies, in Toronto Daily Star (1 October 1960). Dangerous Jewels

Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea.
~ William Orville Douglas (concurring opinion), Terminiello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949)

A wise man speaks to be heard, but a fool speaks to hear himself.
~ William Scott Downey, Proverbs, by Rev. William Scott Downey (1851 edition).

The First Amendment makes confidence in the common sense of our people and in the maturity of their judgment the great postulate of our democracy.
~ William Orville Douglas

If you have Darwin, Christ and Nietzsche, they're all going to talk at once. You need somebody who listens.
~ David William Duchovny, Playboy Interview: David Duchovny (December 1998).

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.
~ William James "Will" Durant, Commencement Address, delivered at the Webb School of Claremont, California (7 June 1958). We Have a Right to be Happy Today

A speaker without energy, is a lifeless statue.
~ William Enfield, The Speaker; or, Miscellaneous Pieces from the Best English Writers (1774). An Essay on Elocution

The movie people would have nothing to do with me until they heard me speak in a Broadway play, then they all wanted to sign me for the silent movies.
~ W.C. Fields, in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: W.C. Fields on Business (January 2000).

Deeds, not words, shall speak to me.
~ John William Fletcher

But they couldn't chat together -- they had not been introduced.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, from Fifty Bab Ballads: Much Sound and Little Sense (1876). Etiquette

Though I'm anything but clever,
I could talk like that forever.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, H.M.S. Pinafore (1878 opera).

The case of the orator is entirely different. His work, from its very inception, is inextricably mixed up with practice. It is cast in the mould offered to him by the mind of his hearers. It is an influence principally received from his audience (so to speak) in vapour, which he pours back upon them in a flood.
~ William Ewart Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 3 (1858). I. Agore

Here comes another of the spell-binders!
~ William Cassius Goodloe (of Republican stump-speakers), During Presidential Campaign (1888).

Gentlemen, I thank you for the honour you have done me. I have never tasted better oysters than I have tasted here today, and I hope I shall get as good wherever I go.
~ William Gilbert (W.G.) Grace, (1872).

A person who talks with equal vivacity on every subject, excites no interest in any. Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

An orator can hardly get beyond common-places: if he does, he gets beyond his hearers.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume II (1826). Essay VII. On the Difference Between Writing and Speaking (written in 1825)

He talked on for ever; and you wished him to talk on for ever.
~ William Hazlitt (of Coleridge), from Lectures on the English Poets (1818). Lecture VIII: On The Living Poets

In public speaking, we must appeal either to the prejudices of others, or to the love of truth and justice. If we think merely of displaying our own ability, we shall ruin every cause we undertake.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

In some situations, if you say nothing, you are called dull; if you talk, you are thought impertinent or arrogant. It is hard to know what to do in this case. The question seems to be, whether your vanity or your prudence predominates.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

The best kind of conversation is that which is made up of observations, reflections, and anecdotes.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1823).

Every bit of plain speaking offends some one these days.
~ William A. Henry III, In Defense of Elitism (1994). Nature and Nurture

Man is man only by means of speech, but in order to invent speech he must be already man.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt

I was going to give you the most marvellous speech you ever heard in your life, but to tell you the truth, after looking at it, I don't like it.
~ William Dickenson Hunter, Canadian Online Explorer (10 April 2002). Hockey greats honour Wild Bill

If he who speaks has interest in the case,
Suspect at least one half the words he says.
~ William Hutton, from Poems, chiefly tales (1804). Maxims

The way to be successful is to give the public exactly what it wants, and about ten per cent more of it than it expects.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge, Speculum Animae: Four Devotional Addresses (1911).

Dialogue is properly a gift relationship as well. When we speak together in a dialogue, we are speaking is a way that seeks to contribute one to the other.
~ William Isaacs, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together (1999).

The truth is that large tracts of human speech are nothing but signs of direction in thought.
~ William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890). Vol. 1. Chapter IX: The Stream of Thought

I saw one excellency was within my reach -- it was brevity, and I determined to obtain this.
~ William Jay, The Autobiography of the Rev. William Jay, Volume I (1855). Letter XV

You can speak your mind
But not on my time.
~ Billy Joel, in 52nd Street (1978 album). My Life

Speak yentle; it ban better far
To rule by love dan fear.
~ William Frederick Kirk, The Norsk Nightingale: Being the Lyrics of a "Lumberyack" (1905). His Poetical Translations. Speak Gently

A spell binder is mostly wind and feathers.
~ William James Lampton, Jedge Waxem's Pocket-Book Of Politics (1908).

The spoken word will ever have its effect upon the stage and from the pulpit and in the courts of law: but only when a great issue is to be met, a great wrong righted, a great truth vindicated, will that spoken word rise to the dignity of oratory.
~ William Mather Lewis, The Voices of Our Leaders: A Collection of Addresses Delivered by Statesmen of the United States and Her Allies in the Great War (1917). Oratory in National Crisi

Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from A Writer's Notebook (1949).

Do you think it was appropriate that the president spoke while the important business of the O.J. trial was going on?
~ Bill Maher (on the dilemma for the TV networks when the O.J. verdict and State of the Union Address happened at the same time), quoted in The Washington Times (6 February 1997). ABC TV Politically Incorrect

His speeches left the impression of an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea; sometimes these meandering words would actually capture a straggling thought and bear it triumphantly a prisoner in their midst, until it died of servitude and overwork.
~ William Gibbs McAdoo (on Warren G. Harding).

You learn to write good speeches by listening to good speeches.
~ William McGurn, Associated Press (10 April 2005). Ex-'WSJ' Scribe Gets Hang of New Job as Bush Speechwriter

Don't talk about yourself; it will be done when you leave.
~ Wilson Mizner

That for which we find words is something already dead in our hearts. There is always a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1888).

The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to speak out the most hidden and intimate things.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human. First Sequel: Mixed Opinions and Maxims (March 1879).

If you your lips would keep from slips,
Five things observe with care;
To whom you speak, of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.
~ William Edward (W.E.) Norris, Thirlby Hall, A Novel. Volume I (1883). Chapter X. George Succours Beauty in Distress

Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought.
~ William Osler, quoted in Sir William Osler: Aphorisms from His Bedside Teachings and Writings (1950).

Be humble and gentle in your conversation; of few words, I charge you; but always pertinent when you speak, hearing out before you attempt to answer, and then speaking as if you would persuade, not impose.
~ William Penn, Letter To His Wife And Children (4 August 1682)

Better say nothing than not to the Purpose. And to speak pertinently, consider both what is fit, and when it is fit to speak.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Rules Of Conversation

If thou thinkest twice, before thou speakest once, thou wilt speak twice the better for it.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Rules Of Conversation

Speak properly, and in as few Words as you can, but always plainly; for the End of Speech is not Ostentation, but to be understood.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part II. Of Conduct in Speech

Where judgment has wit to express it, there's the best orator.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Wit

A speech is like an airplane engine. It may sound like hell but you've got to go on.
~ William Thomas Piper, in Time Magazine (13 January 1961).

Eloquence is in the assembly, not merely in the speaker.
~ William Pitt

Logic ascertains the weight of an argument, Eloquence gives it momentum.
~ William C. Preston, Eulogy on Hugh Swinton Legare, Delivered at Charleston SC (7 November 1843)

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.
~ Will Rogers

Ladies and gentlemen, you have just been listening to that Chinese sage, On Too Long.
~ Will Rogers

Our public men are speaking every day on something, but they ain't saying anything.
~ Will Rogers

Say as little as possible while appearing to be awake.
~ William P. Rogers

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
~ William L. Safire

Never speak lightly of a human being.
~ William Mackintire (W.M.) Salter, Personal Morality: Two Lectures Before the Society for Ethical Culture of Chicago (1886). II. The Morality of Daily Life

To poison the mind of an individual against some other individual is an easy, all-too-common practice -- so common that the phrase describing it is familiar in all languages. ... Poisoning group minds against other groups is an equally familiar phenomenon. Common metaphors frequently conceal deep metaphysical truths. The term 'spellbinder' -- originally applied only to an actual witch or sorcerer -- has become a common appellation for the rabble-rousing orator.
~ William Buehler Seabrook, Witchcraft (1940).

A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk, and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.
~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Act II, scene iv

A kind
Of excellent dumb discourse.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act III, scene iii

An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.
~ William Shakespeare, King Richard III. Act IV, scene iv

Being of no power to make his wishes good:
His promises fly so beyond his state
That what he speaks is all in debt; he owes
For every word.
~ William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens. Act I, scene ii

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. Act III, scene ii

Good orators, when they are out, they will spit.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act IV, scene i

He hath a heart as sound as a bell, and his tongue is the clapper; for what his heart thinks his tongue speaks.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act III, scene ii

He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act II, scene iii

His speech was like a tangled chain;
nothing impaired, but all disordered.
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act V, scene i

I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act I, scene i

I am the best of them that speak this speech.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act I, scene ii

I cannot, nor I will not, hold me still;
My tongue, though not my heart, shall have his will.
~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors. Act IV, scene ii

I do not much dislike the matter, but
The manner of his speech.
~ William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra. Act II, scene ii

I had a thing to say,
But I will fit it with some better tune.
~ William Shakespeare, King John. Act III, scene iii

I have said too much unto a heart of stone.
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night. Act III, scene iv

I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I. Act II, scene iii

I'll speak in a monstrous little voice.
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act I, scene ii

I will a round unvarnished tale deliver.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act I, scene iii

[I]t is not enough to speak, but to speak true.
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act V, scene i

Let heaven and men and devils, let them all,
All, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act V, scene ii

Let me be cruel, not unnatural;
I will speak daggers to her, but use none.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

Love ... and tongue-tied simplicity
In least speak most, to my capacity.
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act V, scene i

Mend your speech a little,
Lest it may mar your fortunes.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act I, scene i

Not to speak it profanely.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.
~ William Shakespeare, King Lear. Act I, scene i

O brother, speak with possibilities,
And do not break into these deep extremes.
~ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Act III, scene i

Rude am I in my speech,
And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act I, scene iii

She that was ever fair and never proud,
Had tongue at will, and yet was never loud.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act II, scene i

Speak low, if you speak love.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act II, scene i

Speak me fair in death.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act IV, scene i

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act I, scene iii

Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent.
~ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida. Act III, scene ii

Talkers are no good doers.
~ William Shakespeare, King Richard III. Act I, scene iii

Thou speakest wiser than thou art ware of.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act II, scene iv

What, canst thou say all this, and never blush?
~ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Act V, scene i

When he speaks,
The air, a chartered libertine, is still.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry V. Act I, scene i

[W]hile thou livest, keep a good tongue in thy head.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act III, scene ii

Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act I, scene ii

Captain Kirk never burped out his lines, nor did he simply SPEAK! as IF! Every! Other! SYLlable! WAS! of DIRE! ImPORTance!
~ William Shatner

As history reminds us, free speech surrendered is rarely recovered.
~ William J. Small, Political Power and the Press (1972)

Every one who speaks makes the air echo with a wisdom gathered from past centuries.
~ William Henry Smith, Thorndale: Or, The Conflict of Opinions (1857). The Confession Of Faith Of An Eclectic And Utopian Philosopher. Part I. The Development of the Individual Consciousness, Section xi: Progressive Development -- New Knowledge, New Sentiments

Kinquering congs their titles take.
~ Reverand William A. Spooner (i.e., a spoonerism for "conquering kings"), Announcing a hymn in New College Chapel (1879).

A speech is something you say so as to distract attention from what you do not say.
~ William Stafford, in Every War Has Two Losers: William Stafford On Peace And War (2003). Two: Citizens Here on Earth

You can legislate freedom of speech, but you have to learn how to accomplish freedom in speech.
~ William Stafford, quoted in Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford (2002).

Even when I am reading my lectures, I often think to myself, "What a humbug you are," and I wonder the people don't find it out.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, quoted in The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13 (March 1864). William Makepeace Thackeray. By One Who Knew Him

He that has ears to hear, let him stuff them with cotton.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century (1857-59). Chapter XXXVIII

Never speak loudly to one another unless the house is on fire.
~ Harold William (H.W.) Thompson

Said first and thought after
Brings many to disaster.
~ Harold William (H.W.) Thompson, (1940).

You will find that a bad speaker who is a very good lip-reader will get on better socially than a good speaker who is a bad lip-reader.
~ William Van Praagh, Paper Read Before the National Association of Teachers of the Deaf, Oxford, England (31 July 1901). Lip-Reading: What It Ought To Be

Talking with you is sort of the conversational equivalent of an out of the body experience.
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (22 October 1987).

Never say anything remarkable. It is sure to be wrong.
~ William Hale White (aka Mark Rutherford), in Last Pages from a Journal (1915). Part III. Notes

Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear to be bright until you hear them speak.
~ Brian Williams

Every time I speak, I want to change the world.
~ Pat Williams, in Pat Williams Motivate (accessed 2004). Speech Topics

I still think Nancy does most of his talking; you'll notice that she never drinks water when Ronnie speaks.
~ Robin Williams (on Ronald and Nancy Reagan), Playboy magazine (Interview; 1982).

Nothing untrue comes off the tongue that quickly. It is planned speeches that contain lies or dissimulations, not what you blurt out so spontaneously in one instant.
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). Forward

If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it.
~ Earl Wilson

I will be brief. Not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the world's shortest speech. He said I will be so brief I have already finished, and he sat down.
~ Edward Osborne (E.O.) Wilson, Graduation Address at Penn State University (1995).

Intemperance in talk makes a dreadful havoc in the heart.
~ (Bishop) Thomas Wilson, in Maxims of Piety and of Christianity (first published in 1781).

There is a better thing than the great man who is always speaking; and that is the great man who only speaks when he has a great word to say.
~ William Winter, from English Rambles: And Other Fugitive Pieces, in Prose and Verse (1883). I. English Rambles. Chapter V: Stoke Pogis and Thomas Gray

You will not believe me when I state that I have nothing to say -- but perhaps you may become convinced when I proceed to prove it.
~ William Winter, from The Actor, And Other Speeches (1891). The Critic (Speech at Daly's Theater, NY; 13 April 1887)

Cultivate a simple style of speaking, so as to be able to inject the strongest thought into the weakest capacity.
~ William Wirt, in Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt, Volume I (1849). Chapter XXII. Letter to Francis W. Gilmer; 29 August 1815

Commencement speakers have a good deal in common with grandfather clocks: Standing usually some six feet tall, typically ponderous in construction, more traditional than functional, their distinction is largely their noisy communication of essentially commonplace information.
~ W. Willard Wirtz (Commencement address at University of Iowa), in Time Magazine (19 June 1965).

Choice word and measured phrase, above the reach
Of ordinary men; a stately speech.
~ William Wordsworth, from Poems in Two Volumes, Volume I (1807). Poems Composed During A Tour, Chiefly on Foot. 5. Resolution and Independence

I hear the wind a blow
I hear the grass a grow,
And all that I know, I know.
But I will not speak, I will run away.
~ William Butler Yeats, The Hour-Glass (1912 version).