Words of Wisdom from Imaam Abu Haatim ibn Hibban

Imaam Abu Haatim ibn Hibban (d.354H) said:

"It is obligatory upon the intelligent to adhere resolutely to
silence until he must speak. Frequently will the one who speaks
later regret! Rare will it be that the one who remains silent have a
cause to regret! The people who will have the most misery and
greatest misfortune are those with unrestrained tongues and encased
hearts."

And:

"It is obligatory upon the intelligent to treat his ears and mouth
fairly. He should know that he was given two ears and one mouth so
that he may listen more than he speaks, for it may well be that when
he speaks, he will regret, and when he does not speak, he will have
no cause to regret. Man is more able to return to its place what he
did not say as compared to returning and retracting what he has
actually said. When a word is spoken, it has taken control of him;
but when it is not spoken, he is in control of it."

And:

"The tongue of the intelligent is behind his heart: when he wishes
to speak he first refers to the heart and if it is befitting that he
speak, he does, otherwise he does not. The heart of the ignoramus is
on the tip of his tongue: whatever comes to it, he speaks. The one
who does not preserve his tongue has not understood his religion."

[Taken from: Rifqan Ahlus-Sunnah bi Ahlis-Sunnah by Shaykh `Abdul-
Muhsin al-`Abbaad in which he quotes from Imaam ibn Hibaan and his
book Rawdat-ul-`Uqalaa wa Nuzhat-ul-Fudalaa…]