Speak of things public to the public, but of things lofty and secret only to the loftiest and most private of your friends. Hay to the ox and sugar to the parrot.
… remembered summer light, and the luminous inverted ghost of a boy with a parrot on his shoulder. - Michael Chabon
To live so that you would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip, is to have lived well
Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse, not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign. - William Cowper
Try to live your life so that you wouldn't be afraid to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. - Will Rogers
I know of only one bird - the parrot - that talks; and it can't fly very high. - Wilbur Wright
Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. - Will Rogers
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. - Saskya Pandita
Lead your life so you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. - Will Rogers