Pray much and speak little. O, let me particularly recommend to you that sacred, gentle and peaceful silence which God and all His saints love so much! The spirit of talkativeness is the bane of all religious society, the extinction of devotions, occasions confusion of mind, is an abuse of time and a denial of the divine presence.
Love, obedience, courtesy or necessity, must influence the tongue to speak; else it should continue silent.
Edify one another more by a holy walk, than by a multitude of words. God dwells only in the peaceful souls, and the tongue must be at peace also.
Behold the fruit of sacred silence! It gives time, strength, collectedness, prayer, liberty, wisdom, the society of God and a blessed state of mind.