The learning is supposed to be learning al menat la'asot, in order to do and to do better. That's the idea over here: a person should continuously attempt and try to do more. Masechet Avot, perek aleph (chapter one), Mishnah yud zayin (17). The Mishnah says, Shimon beno omer (Shimon his son says), Shimon who was the son of Rabban Gamliel, he taught the following: Ve lo matzati laguf tov ela shetika, and I didn't find any character trait better than the trait of a person being quiet—silence, for the person to sit, to listen, to give himself the ability to introspect and to take in information.
Many times, when people are in conversation or in a deep discussion, they'll just wait their turn to talk, but they don't really take in the opinion or wisdom of the person talking to them; they're just waiting to get their side out. And therefore, Rabban Gamliel—Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel over here—says, take it in, listen. The most important thing you'll see in wise people is that they're quiet. They're not going to answer sharply just to talk; they're going to listen and really think, and have the ability to develop an answer before they speak.
So silence is something that a person should try to pursue. Of course, it will lead him to understand more wisdom. But the main part of what really matters is the action that comes from it. A person should learn, but it's not learning that's just to be intellectually challenged and stimulated and to know certain ideas; it's to promote a person to act, to do more mitzvot (commandments), to follow the ways of the Torah. That's the main part of the learning. Ve lo hamidrash hu ha'ikar ela hama'aseh: The study of Torah is not the main point. Of course it's valuable, of course it's important, of course it's fundamental.
Kol yamai gadalti bein hachamim: He said, “My entire life I was the son of Rabban Gamliel; I grew up amongst rabbis, I grew up amongst the sages.” I continuously watched them, and I saw their middot, I saw their great character. Vekhol hamarbeh devarim mevi chet: Somebody who talks too much brings sin into their life.
If they don't want to follow the advice you brought in the beginning of the Mishnah about remaining silent—let's say they want to talk a little bit—we say, if somebody talks, don't talk too much. There's a spectrum here: it goes from silence, really trying to stay quiet and listen, to not talking too much, to a person who really talks constantly. So we're seeing over here that even if you want to be a person who talks, as opposed to a person who just takes it in and listens, don't talk too much. If you talk too much, eventually you're going to bring avera; you're going to bring sin into your life. Many averot, many sins, are brought about through speech, through slander, through lashon hara (evil speech), through mockery. There's so much that can be done, so much damage that can be done with the mouth. A person has to be careful not to talk too much, because if you talk too much, avera comes about.