Least said is soonest mended.
Meaning: Silence prevents wounds that words inflict; restraint in speech preserves relationships better than eloquent apologies.
Origin: A poem of about 1460 already says that few words are soon amended, and John Heywood's Two Hundred Epigrams (1556) has "little said soon amended." The fewer words spoken in a quarrel, the easier it is to repair; anything left unsaid never has to be taken back.
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