Charles Caleb Colton Quotes

Tis better to sit there and look the fool, than to open your mouth and prove it.

The wise man knows when to keep silent. Only the fool tells all he knows.

Silence is the best answer to a fool.

Nothing is more like a wise man than a fool who holds his tongue.

Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

Silence is the virtue of fools.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

It is best for the wise man not to seem wise.

Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.

It takes a very wise man to act the fool.

A man of virtue, judgment, and prudence speaks not until there is silence.

Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.

Think not silence the wisdom of fools; but, if rightly timed, the honor of wise men, who have not the infirmity, but the virtue of taciturnity.

Answer not a fool according to his folly,lest thou also be like unto him.

Have you ever heard the phrase, it is better to keep your mouth closed and have people wonder if you are stupid than open it and remove all doubt? (Hakim al Harbi)

Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen.

The wise hand does not all the tongue dictates.

The wiser a man is, the less talkative will he be.

When Demaratus was asked whether he held his tongue because he was a fool or for want of words, he replied, "A fool cannot hold his tongue.

A wise man heedeth all things, and in his own eyes is a fool.

Have more than you show, Speak less than you know.

It is wise to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well.

Be wise among the wise, but pretend to be dull among fools.

I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut.

The wise duck keeps his mouth shut when he smells frogs.