Here is a great collection of quotes about speech. It is a mishmash of profound, funny and sarcastic speech quotes.
“All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer.” - Robert Louis Stevenson
"Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent." - Dionysius of Halicarnassus
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato
"Political speeches are like steer horns. A point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between." - Alfred Neuman (Mad Magazine)
"Great minds talk about ideas, Average minds talk about things, Small minds talk about other people." - Unknown
"Speech was given to the ordinary sort of men, whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it." - Robert South
“It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” - Mark Twain
"Speech is external thought, and thought internal speech." - Antione Rivarol
“It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.” - Oliver Wendell Holme
“It takes two to speak truth, one to speak and another to hear.” - Henry David Thoreau
"The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you haven't thought of yet." - Ann Landers
"A sage thing is timely silence, and better than any speech." - Plutarch
"After all is said and done, more is said than done." - Unknown
“Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.” - Publilius Syrus
“Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts.” - Charles M. de Talleyrand
“What the heart thinks, the tongue speaks” - Romanian Proverb
"Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." - Robert Frost
"Three things matter in a speech - who says it, how he says it and what he says, and of the three, the latter matters the least." - John Morley
"Be careful of your thoughts; they may become words at any moment." - Ira Gassen
"If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind - give it more thought." - Dennis Roth
"A person's character is revealed by their speech." - Greek Proverb
"A speech is like a love affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill." - Lord Mansfield
"Speech of yourself ought to be seldom and well chosen." - Francis Bacon
"Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
"One half the troubles in this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough." - Josh Billings
"Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of a witness." - Margaret Millar
"When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it." - Arabian Proverb
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." - Mark Twain
"Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them." - Adlai Stevenson
