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About this quote

What does it mean?
Staying silent can protect you from appearing foolish, while speaking carelessly confirms it.
In plain terms
Better to be quiet than to prove you're an idiot.
What can you take from it?
Think before you speak.

Where it applies

  • meeting
  • public speaking
  • debate

Putting it to work

  • pause before answering
  • listen more

Questions to consider

  • When is silence more powerful than words?
  • How can you gauge when to speak?

Another view

Silence can also be misinterpreted as ignorance.

More from Abraham Lincoln

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  3. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God tha…

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