Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt
Meaning: Staying quiet is often wiser than speaking and confirming your ignorance.
Origin: Often attributed to Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain, but the earliest known version is in Maurice Switzer's humor book Mrs. Goose, Her Book (1907): "It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it." The idea itself is biblical: Proverbs 17:28 says that even a fool who holds his peace is counted wise.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: Mieux vaut se taire et passer pour un idiot que de parler et en lever tout doute (literally: Better to keep quiet and seem a fool than to speak and remove all doubt)
- Spanish: Mejor guardar silencio y que te crean tonto, que hablar y confirmarlo (literally: Better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and confirm it)
- Japanese: 黙って賢者と思われる方が、口を開いて愚者と証明するよりましだ (Damatte kenja to omowareru hō ga, kuchi wo hirate gūsha to shōmei suru yori mashi da) (literally: It is better to be silent and thought wise than to open your mouth and prove you're a fool)
More proverbs about Communication
- 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…
- No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public — Mass audiences reward simplicity over substance, making mediocrity perpetually profitable.
From our tongue twisters
- Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegen achterna. — The same noun/verb homograph trap as the German version — vliegen does triple duty.
- 간장 공장 공장장은 장 공장장이고 된장 공장 공장장은 강 공장장이다. (Ganjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Jang gongjangjang igo, doenjang gongjang gongjangjang eun Gang gongjangjang ida.) — A 'gong/jang/gang' syllable storm — the two surnames (Jang/Gang) swap while the rest stay…
- 경찰청 철창살은 외철창살이고 검찰청 철창살도 외철창살이다. (Gyeongchalcheong cheolchangsal eun oe cheolchangsal igo, geomchalcheong cheolchangsal do oe cheolchangsal ida.) — A 'cheong/cheol/chal' onslaught — Korean's aspirated stops and affricates in relentless s…