It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Staying silent is better than speaking and confirming your lack of intelligence.
- In plain terms
- Be silent to seem smart; speaking confirms stupidity.
- What can you take from it?
- Silence protects your reputation better than careless words.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is silence the best choice?
- How do words damage reputation?
Another view
It promotes excessive caution that can hinder useful communication.
More from Mark Twain
Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.
Permalink to quote #212 For example, in Year 1 that useless letter 'c' would be dropped to be replased either by 'k' or 's', and likewise 'x' would no longer be part of the alphabet. …
Permalink to quote #214 Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe…
Permalink to quote #211
Related quotes
Prudence: 'Speak rarely, but then speak carefully. Speak with great calculation and discretion before your rivals and with great nobility of manner before frie…
Bryant McGillBryant McGill quote #126 Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts.
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle quote #1 The silence of a wise man is always meaningful.
Leo StraussLeo Strauss quote #5