The wise man has long ears and a short tongue.
God gave man two ears and one tongue so
that we listen twice as much as we speak.
-- Arab proverb
Wise man has long ears and a short tongue is a Swedish term. It means that the person who is wise listen more , so the concept long ears is related to listening. And Short tongue means speak less. If we take examples from history great men were great listeners. Wise men speaks with their behavior and work , on the contrary common men speak more and work less. So wise people listen more and more to others and increase their knowledge. Listening means acquiring good knowledge and wise men always have a good knowledge.
So Egyptian proverb says that "A man's ruin lies in his tongue."
