A gentle answer turns away wrath
Meaning: Responding calmly to anger defuses conflict; harsh replies only escalate it.
Origin: From the Book of Proverbs (15:1). The King James Version reads "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger," and modern translations render it "a gentle answer." Gentleness defuses a quarrel that harshness would inflame.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Une douce réponse apaise la colère (literally: A gentle answer soothes anger)
- Spanish: La respuesta suave calma el enojo (literally: A gentle answer calms anger)
- Japanese: 柔らかな答えは怒りを鎮める (Yawarakana kotae wa ikari wo shizumeru) (literally: A gentle answer calms anger)
- German: Eine sanfte Antwort stillt den Zorn (literally: A gentle answer stills wrath)
More proverbs about Communication
- Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt — Staying quiet is often wiser than speaking and confirming your ignorance.
- Speak little, do much — Let your actions speak louder than your words; promise less and deliver more.
- The louder the thunder, the less the rain — The most dramatic announcements often yield the least substance.
- Do what I say, not what I do — Hypocrisy acknowledged: the speaker recognizes their own failures but knows the correct p…
- It's not what you say but how you say it — Tone and delivery shape message impact more powerfully than words alone.
- Live by the sword, die by the sword — Violence begets violence; those who choose aggressive means should expect equally brutal…
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.