Look at the holy ones; most of them decreased their speech as they got older and grew and became wiser.
—Fr. Antony Paul
Category: KNOWLEDGE
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107. By virtue of his body man is mortal; and by virtue of his intellect and intelligence he is immortal. Through silence you come to understanding; having understood, you give expression. It is in silence that the intellect gives birth to the intelligence; and the thankful intelligence offered to God is man’s salvation.
—Anthony the Great: On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts
Philokalia -
33. Those who are inconstant and uninstructed should not argue with intelligent men. An intelligent man is one who conforms to God and mostly keeps silent; when he speaks he says very little, and only what is necessary and acceptable to God.
—Anthony the Great: On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts
Philokalia -
2. To cease talk on any subject:
There are some subjects which are not your concern, therefore do not speak about them, especially matters relating to the secrets of others. Also abstain from talking on subjects which are not your speciality, such as pure scientific or artistic or political matters that surpass your knowledge.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Words of Spiritual Benefit Vol. 1 -
After being an eloquent rhetorician, he becomes the most renowned model of silence. And he, whom they could not find a better tutor than him in Rome, becomes passionate about learning from others, and with the least nod.
on St Arsenius the Great -
CHAPTER IV: How vainglory attacks a monk on the right had and on the left. For where the devil cannot create vainglory in a man by means of his well-fitting and neat dress, he tries to introduce it by means of a dirty, cheap, and uncared-for style. If he cannot drag a man down by honour, he overthrows him by humility. If he cannot make him puffed up by the grace of knowledge and eloquence, he pulls him down by the weight of silence. If a man fasts openly, he is attacked by the pride of vanity.
John Cassian, Institutes
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Conversations are the basis of relationships, and relationships are built on trust. You will find that the more open you are about the limitations of your knowledge, the more weight people will give to your opinion when you offer it. If you don’t know something, just say “I don’t know.” Those three words can strengthen the bond between you and another person. And just as important, they are a gateway to further exploration and growth. You can’t learn unless you admit that you have something to learn.
We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter
Celeste Headlee -
Among the items that waste time is for the mind to replay what it saw during the day. It finds audiovisual flashbacks of the entire past: discussions, images, actions, meetings, and conversations, as well as the mind’s consequent inferences— this consumes a great amount of time.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us -
God also knows what help matches each personality. And so it’s important for you to seek God as you are, because God will respond to you as you are. He’ll always move you towards truth, but He’s not gonna be like, Well, here’s the thing, bro, you need to now take a vow of silence. But you’re like Moses, and you just want to laugh and chill with people, you’re not Arsenius. Cool, right? He does do that.
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It is a grace. It is not that person’s intellect—it is God has gifted them of seeing with real sight — he graced them, he gifted them with something that doesn’t belong to them by nature.
SO GOOD QUOTES 