"Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about"
About this Quote
The parrot metaphor does double duty. A parrot talks, but it doesn’t control what it says; it repeats. That’s a pointed critique of performative speech: the kind that mimics prevailing slogans, flatters authority, or fills the air to look important. The punishment is a cage, not because the parrot is evil, but because it’s legible. The talkative creature becomes easy to locate, label, and contain.
The “other birds” are a quieter kind of intelligence. They “fly freely” because they’re harder to pin down; they offer less evidence, fewer hooks for accusation, fewer openings for rivals to exploit. Pandita is also hinting at a leader’s discipline: restraint as strategy, not timidity. Silence here is not emptiness but control - the ability to choose when speech is necessary and when it’s self-sabotage. In a culture of surveillance before CCTV, discretion was the real mobility.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Pandita, Saskya. (2026, January 15). Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/much-talking-is-the-cause-of-danger-silence-is-153267/
Chicago Style
Pandita, Saskya. "Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/much-talking-is-the-cause-of-danger-silence-is-153267/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Much talking is the cause of danger. Silence is the means of avoiding misfortune. The talkative parrot is shut up in a cage. Other birds, without speech, fly freely about." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/much-talking-is-the-cause-of-danger-silence-is-153267/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.











