# origin of a proverb

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-a-proverb/330020>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 8, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-a-proverb/330020 "2005-11-08T07:38:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![daydog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@daydog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daydog)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-a-proverb/330020/1 "2005-11-08T07:38:56Z")

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Can anyone tell me the origin of the phrase “If you haven’t got anything good to say, don’t say anything at all?” I wouldn’t even expect such a phrase to have a traceable origin, but someone recently quoted it to me with claims that its first utterance was attributed to a Chinese sage. :dubious: I doubt it with the extent of my doubting ability, but I would like to know something solid before attempting a rebuttal.

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**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-a-proverb/330020/2 "2005-11-08T15:37:45Z")

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If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.  
Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980)

Oh wait…that’s not it.

Attribute this gem to Thumper’s Daddy, 1942.

Remember, you’ve got a concrete cite now. It’s on your friend to prove an earlier one. Bet him lunch or something–Anyone can say “a Chinese sage” said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” but until someone can prove that Woody Allen didn’t coin it in 1972 he gets the credit.

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**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-a-proverb/330020/3 "2005-11-08T18:43:17Z")

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It’s different wording, but the content of a popular Latin phrase, _Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses_ (If you had remained silent, you would have stayed a philosopher) is pretty much the same: It’s better to say nothing at all than to say something stupid. This phrase is attributed to Boethius, a 6th cenrtury philosopher.