Discretion, the best part of valor. [ Beaumont and Fletcher ]
Philosophy is nothing but discretion. [ John Selden ]
Valour is brutish without discretion. [ Proverb ]
Discretion
And hard valour are the twins of honour,
And, nursed together, make a conqueror;
Divided, but a talker. [ Beaumont and Fletcher ]
Without any restriction (at discretion). [ French ]
Advise with salt, (i.e. with discretion). [ Motto ]
Abundance is a blessing to the wise;
The use of riches in discretion lies:
Learn this, ye men of wealth - a heavy purse
In a fool's pocket is a heavy curse. [ Cumberland ]
Abundance without discretion is plain penury. [ Matteo Gribaldi ]
Perish discretion when it interferes with duty. [ Hannah More ]
An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit. [ Proverb ]
Working and making a fire doth discretion require. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]
Valour would fight, but discretion would run away. [ Proverb ]
Ill tongues ought to be heard only by persons of discretion. [ Proverb ]
Silence, when nothing need be said, is the eloquence of discretion. [ Bovee ]
Let us teach ourselves that honorable step, not to outdo discretion. [ William Shakespeare ]
It is very seldom that a great talker hath either discretion or good manners. [ Proverb ]
Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life. [ La Bruyère ]
Silence and discretion are specially becoming in a woman, and to remain quietly at home. [ Euripides ]
Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable. [ La Fontaine ]
Discretion is the salt, and fancy the sugar, of life; the one preserves, the other sweetens it. [ Bovee ]
Cowardice is not synonymous with prudence. It often happens that the better part of discretion is valor. [ Hazlitt ]
It is good discretion not to make too much of any man at the first; because one cannot hold out that proportion. [ Bacon ]
There is an eloquent silence which serves to approve or to condemn: there is a silence of discretion and of respect. [ La Rochefoucauld ]
Discretion is more necessary to women than eloquence, because they have less trouble to speak well than to speak little. [ Father Du Bosc ]
Knowledge is the treasure of the mind, but discretion is the key to it, without which it is useless. The practical part of wisdom is the best. [ Owen Feltham ]
Without discretion learning is pedantry and wit impertinence; virtue itself looks like weakness. The best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly in errors, and active to his own prejudice. [ Addison ]
It has come to be practically a sort of rule in literature, that a man, having once shown himself capable of original writing, is entitled thenceforth to steal from the writings of others at discretion. [ Emerson ]
The courage that grows from constitution very often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; and when it is only a kind of instinct in the soul, it breaks out on all occasions, without judgment or discretion. [ Addison ]
Bashfulness is a great hindrance to a man, both in uttering his sentiments and in understanding what is proposed to him; it is therefore good to press forward with discretion, both in discourse and company of the better sort. [ Bacon ]
If a young lady has that discretion and modesty without which all knowledge is little worth, she will never make an ostentatious parade of it, because she will rather be intent on acquiring more than on displaying what she has. [ Hannah More ]
The pleasantest part of a man's life is generally that which passes in courtship, provided his passion be sincere, and the party beloved kind with discretion. Love, desire, hope, all the pleasing emotions of the soul, rise in the pursuit. [ Addison ]
Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more than to speak in good words or in good order. A good continued speech, without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. [ Bacon ]