--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If it requires great tact to speak to the…" description: "\"If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it requires no less to know when to be silent.\" — Francois de La Rochefoucauld" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld-1_ifs_if-it-requires-great-tact-to-speak-to-th_1165115.png" --- # If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it… ![“If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it requires no less to know when to be silent.” quote by Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld-1_ifs_if-it-requires-great-tact-to-speak-to-th_1165115.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld-1_ifs_if-it-requires-great-tact-to-speak-to-th_1165115.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/696/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld-1_ifs_if-it-requires-great-tact-to-speak-to-th_1165115.png) > “If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it requires no less to know when to be silent.” [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding when to stay silent is as important as speaking wisely; discretion often preserves harmony and effectiveness. **In simple terms:** Silence can be as powerful as speech. Key Takeaway Choose silence wisely. Themes communication wisdom discipline Mood reflective calm Type aphilosophical advisory When to use this quote - conflict resolution - leadership meetings - personal relationships - negotiations Key Concepts Stoicism social intelligence Questions to Reflect On - When have you spoken too much? - When could silence have changed an outcome? A Different Perspective Silence may be misinterpreted as indifference or weakness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Tact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tact/) ## Related quotes > [We can speak very much to the purpose and yet in such a way that the whole world cries out in contradiction: namely, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-can-speak-very-much-to-the-purpose-and-yet-in-such-a-way-that-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-state-of-a-king-shuts-him-from-the-world-yet-the-business-of-a/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“We know that some of you are still scared. We know that some of you are still silent. Just because it's better now doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-know-that-some-of-you-are-still-scared-we-know-that-some-of-you/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“I don’t know how to be silent when my heart is speaking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/i-don-t-know-how-to-be-silent-when-my-heart-is-speaking/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“But her mind was so busily engaged, that she did not always know when she was silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-her-mind-was-so-busily-engaged-that-she-did-not-always-know-when/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The talkative listen to no one, for they are ever speaking. And the first evil that attends those who know not to be silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/the-talkative-listen-to-no-one-for-they-are-ever-speaking-and-the/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Do you know anything about silent films?" "Sure," I said. "The first ones were developed in the late nineteenth century and sometimes had live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/do-you-know-anything-about-silent-films-sure-i-said-the-first-ones/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [“Those who speak know nothing. Those who know are silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-garc-a/those-who-speak-know-nothing-those-who-know-are-silent/) [Cristina Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-garc-a/) > [He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/he-who-does-not-know-how-to-be-silent-will-not-know-how-to-speak/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) > [It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-great-wisdom-to-know-how-to-be-silent-and-to-look-at-neither/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A Positive Mental Attitude is the right mental attitude. What is the right mental attitude? It is most often comprised of the "plus" characteristics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/a-positive-mental-attitude-is-the-right-mental-attitude-what-is-the/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“A schoolmate of Matt Chandler's with the locker next to his: "I need to tell you about Jesus. 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In jealousy there is more of self-love than of love to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/jealousy-is-always-born-with-love-but-does-not-die-with-it-in/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-greatest-of-all-gifts-is-the-power-to-estimate-things-at-their/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [We have not strength enough to follow our reason so far as it would carry us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-have-not-strength-enough-to-follow-our-reason-so-far-as-it-would/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) [Explore all 1,134 Francois de La Rochefoucauld quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. 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If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. 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