Oftentimes, we are reminded that silence is golden.  I usually take that to mean that sometimes it's more advantageous to listen than to speak.

There is self-reflection in silence. And there is also self-censoring in silence.

Self-censoring, or yielding our power to someone else due to perceived consequences, can be both wise and self-sabotaging. 

The key, it seems to me, is finding our authentic voice. that holds space for silence and speaking our truth and standing in our power.

The phrase "silence is golden," is part of a longer proverb, “Speech is silver and silence is golden,” which is believed to have originated in Ancient Egypt. In 1831, the proverb was first printed and explained in English by the poet Thomas Carlyle.