 The book of Corhellus, Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 7 tells us there's a time to speak and a time to remain silent. We live in a world where we're constantly speaking. We speak both with our mouths, we speak with our pens, we speak on our tablets and on our smartphones and on our computers. We're constantly expressing ourselves and speaking. We're not used to silence. We're not used to keeping silent. And yet the book of Corhellus, the wisest person in the world, King Solomon, reminds us, don't forget there's a time to remain silent. We learn in Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, chapter 1, mission 17. There are by Shimon Toth that his entire life he grew up among the sages and he said, I never found anything as good for the body as silence. What might this mean? So the Midrashakadol teaches that each human being is given a certain number of words to use during their lifetime. Once we use up these words, that's the end of our life. And so the idea that silence is good for our body, for our physical body, is very clear that the more words we use up, the more quickly we're taking away time from our lives. The Talmud teaches in Trakhaid Hulun, 89A, that the world exists on the merit of those who keep their mouths shut at a time of a quarrel. One of the times that we often get into the most trouble is when we're in a quarrel, we're in a disagreement, we're in a fight, we're arguing. And it's very tempting to say something sharp, to put someone down, to go on the attack. And the Talmud teaches that the world exists on the merit of those people who are wise enough to know that that's often the best time to remain silent. Rabbi Avigdor Miller used to say that this kind of self-control can save your life, it can save your marriage, and it can save your job. Those are words that are definitely worth remembering. Sadly, many people choose their clothing more carefully than they choose their words. We learn as well in Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, chapter 3, mission 13, that silence is a protective fence around wisdom. Rabbi Yonah explains in his commentary to Pirkei Avot that for students it's critical to listen carefully and not to get distracted by their own thoughts and their own words of what they're thinking of saying. When we're learning something, it's important to put our focus on the lesson on what we're being imparted. There's always a time for questions, and the Talmud urges us that without questioning we will never learn anything. But we have to remember that the question should come only after we've listened to the lesson and we listened carefully. And not to listen to the teacher or listen to someone who's imparting wisdom and to spend half of our mental energy thinking about what I'm going to say, what kind of clever question can I ask? Questions are important, but we have to first learn how to learn. In the book of Proverbs, chapter 17, verse 28, we're told that even a silent fool is considered wise. Even a silent fool is considered wise. And Mark Twain famously taught that it's better to remain silent and let people think you're foolish than to open your mouth and to remove all doubt.