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 can protect you from looking foolish, while speaking carelessly reveals your ignorance.
- In plain terms
- Quiet is safer than speaking and exposing your lack of knowledge.
- What can you take from it?
- Think before you speak.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When might silence be more harmful than speaking?
- How can you gauge when to speak?
Another view
Silence can also be misinterpreted as indifference or lack of confidence.
More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens
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
Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.
Vaclav HavelVaclav Havel quote #30 I speak from ignorance. Who once learned much, but speaks from ignorance now.
Nathaniel TarnNathaniel Tarn quote #1 I'm going to write a book someday and the title will be I'm an Ass, You're an Ass. That's the most liberating, wonderful thing in the world, when you openly ad…
Anthony de MelloAnthony de Mello quote #13