A word is enough to the wise.
Meaning: The wise person needs only minimal guidance to understand and act on good advice.
Origin: From the Latin dictum sapienti sat est — a word to the wise is enough — found in the Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence. Ben Jonson has "a word to the wise" around 1600, and 19th-century writers shortened the Latin to "verbum sap." The wise person needs only a hint.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: A bon entendeur demi-mot (literally: A word to the wise)
- Spanish: A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan (literally: For a good understander, few words suffice)
- Japanese: 一を聞いて十を知る (Ichi o kiite jū o shiru) (literally: Hear one, understand ten)
- German: Ein Wort genügt dem Weisen (literally: One word suffices for the wise man)
More proverbs about Communication
- Words spoken in an evening the wind carrieth away. — Careless evening talk dissolves into irrelevance like dispersed wind, so thoughtless word…
- Fair words will not keep a cat from starving. — Flattery and pleasant speech cannot substitute for concrete necessities like food and sur…
- Good words cool more than cold water. — Kind speech soothes anger and distress more effectively than external comfort ever could.
- Good words fill not a sack. — Eloquent speech alone cannot sustain you; you need material provisions and practical acti…
- Many words will not fill a bushel. — Excessive talk produces nothing tangible; abundance of speech cannot substitute for concr…
- Soft words hurt not the mouth. — Gentle speech costs nothing to speak and risks no harm through careless words.
From our idioms
- with flying colors — Triumphantly; victoriously.
- come from the wrong side of the tracks — The poor part of town.
- Le dindon de la farce — The dupe — the victim of a trick who ends up everyone's laughingstock.