缄默是才能的标志。没有秘密的内心如同一封打开的信一般。只要地基坚固，城府深，秘密就能藏得很深——你的心中要有足够掩藏要事的地下室。缄默是自控的结果，在这方面实现自控才是真正的胜利。你把秘密告诉了谁，就要向谁交付赎金。安稳处世的智慧在于内心的节制。在他人盘问你之时，在他人用反驳的方法刺探你内心秘密之时，在他人讽刺你之时，缄默便遇到了险情——为了化解这些危险，谨慎之人愈加缄默。不要事先讲出必做之事，也不要一味地按照必说的去做。
reticence is the seal of capacity. a breast without a secret is an open letter. where there is a solid foundation secrets can be kept profound: there are spacious cellars where things of moment may be hid. reticence springs from self-control, and to control oneself in this is a true triumph. you must pay ransom to each you tell. the security of wisdom consists in temperance in the inner man. the risk that reticence runs lies in the cross-questioning of others, in the use of contradiction to worm out secrets, in the darts of irony: to avoid these the prudent become more reticent than before. what must be done need not be said, and what must be said need not be done.
