Speak well of the dead.
Meaning: Honoring those who've passed prevents spreading harm they can no longer defend themselves against.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Communication
- Truth lies in a well. — Deep truths require effort and patience to excavate from obscurity, not quick surface obs…
- When wine sinks, words swim. — Alcohol loosens the tongue, making people speak freely or carelessly without their usual…
- Few words are best. — Silence demonstrates wisdom; excessive talk reveals ignorance and wastes others' time.
- Wranglers never want words. — Quarrelsome people exhaust themselves through constant conflict rather than resolving dis…
- The pen is mightier than the sword — Writing and ideas have more influence than violence.
- Silence is golden — Sometimes it's better to say nothing.
From our untranslatable words
- Spleen — A deep, existential ennui — a heavy, formless sadness and disgust with the world and ones…
- Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
- Ressourcement — The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…