Listen to him who has four ears. It is not known what gave birth to this adage, but it is understood, as advising to attend to old and experienced persons, who are slow in judging, who are more ready to hear than to speak; or, as the English proverb has it, «who have wide ears and short tongues».

«He that hears much, and speaks not at all,
Shall be welcome in parlour, in kitchen and hall».

«Oi, voye, et te taise,
Si tu veux vivre en pais».


That is, if you wish to live quietly, hear, see, and be silent; which is taken probably from the following monkish line. "Audi, vide, tace, si vis vivere in pace." A similar sense has, "prospectandum vetulo latrante cane," when the old dog barks, or opens, then attend.