Keep Your Tongue

"The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
 Can crush and kill," declared the Greek.
 "The tongue destroys a greater horde,"
 The Turk asserts, "than does the sword."
The Persian proverb wisely saith, 
"A lengthy tongue-an early death."
Or sometimes take this form instead:
 "Don't let your tongue cut off your head."
 "The tongue can speak a word whose speed,"
 Say the Chinese, "outstrips the steed."
 While Arab sage doth this impart:
"The tongue's great storehouse is the heart."
 From Hebrew wit the maxim sprung,
 "Though feet do slip, never let the tongue."
 The sacred writer crowns the whole:
 "Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul"

 -Unknown