--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent…" description: "\"Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/rumi-56_enemy_listen-clam-up-your-mouth-and-be-silent_1236698.jpg" --- # Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster… ![“Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.” quote by Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/rumi-56_enemy_listen-clam-up-your-mouth-and-be-silent_1236698.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/rumi-56_enemy_listen-clam-up-your-mouth-and-be-silent_1236698.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/rumi-56_enemy_listen-clam-up-your-mouth-and-be-silent_1236698.jpg) > “Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.” [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Silence protects the soul; speaking carelessly can harm inner peace **In simple terms:** Quietness shields the spirit Key Takeaway Practice listening before speaking Themes self‑control inner peace communication Mood contemplative serene Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - conflict resolution - personal relationships - public speaking Key Concepts mindfulness spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How does speaking truth differ from idle chatter? - When is silence more powerful than words? A Different Perspective Silence can also suppress needed truth ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Tongues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tongues/) ## Related quotes > [“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-balkh/don-t-be-satisfied-with-stories-how-things-have-gone-with-others/) John Balkh > [Where the lips are silent the heart has a thousand tongues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/where-the-lips-are-silent-the-heart-has-a-thousand-tongues/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [I think it better that in times like these a poet's mouth be silent, for in truth we have no gift to set a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-think-it-better-that-in-times-like-these-a-poet-s-mouth-be-silent/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [There is no weapon in the end as difficult to overcome as the tongue of an enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-norton/there-is-no-weapon-in-the-end-as-difficult-to-overcome-as-the-tongue/) [Andre Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-norton/) > [“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a word, and each word is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-page-and-each-cluster-of-marks/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Time and tide waits for none. faster than river as it run, and carries away with it all the fun, the pleasure of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha/time-and-tide-waits-for-none-faster-than-river-as-it-run-and-carries/) [Aisha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha/) > [“I know, the "I" in me, is silent; You have nothing to say either. Heart is down in the mouth, Lips are closed, Eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif/i-know-the-i-in-me-is-silent-you-have-nothing-to-say-either-heart-is/) [Asif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif/) > [“No man can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/no-man-can-keep-a-secret-if-his-lips-are-silent-he-chatters-with-his/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“When bodies talk, a hand brushing across a face declares love the tongue never speaks. 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We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is a morning inside you waiting to burst open into light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-is-a-morning-inside-you-waiting-to-burst-open-into-light/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Sometimes you hear a voice through the door calling you... This turning toward what you deeply love saves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/sometimes-you-hear-a-voice-through-the-door-calling-you-this-turning/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“You’ve so distracted me, your absence fans my love. Don’t ask how. 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Love is our mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-are-born-of-love-love-is-our-mother/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums that hid and show what's hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/water-stories-the-body-all-the-things-we-do-are-mediums-that-hid-and/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [If your heart isn't yet illumined Be awake always, be a seeker of the heart, Be at war continually with your carnal soul. 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The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. Everything else is rubbish!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rickenbacker/in-this-business-you-find-the-enemy-then-go-after-and-destroy-him/) [Eddie Rickenbacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rickenbacker/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) [Browse all 7,981 Enemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. 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