# Who said it? \[Better to remain silent and be thought a fool...\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764 "2010-07-15T12:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/1 "2010-07-15T12:47:51Z")
In [How to seem smarter than you really are](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12686881) **Al Bundy** said: > [@How to seem smarter than you really are](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-seem-smarter-than-you-really-are/546746/6): > > As my mother used to quote from somebody, “Better to keep your mouth shut than speak and let everybody know you are stupid.” Now, as I’m sure many of you know, the quote is actually something like “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” I did a quick search and I’m seeing this quote attributed to both Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain, among others. Who actually said this? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/2 "2010-07-15T13:04:54Z")
I have always heard this attributed Mark Twain, over the last 40 years, and never to anyone else. I have a dictionary of quotes but it isn’t listed so I can’t offer an authorative source. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/3 "2010-07-15T13:40:51Z")
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. – Bible, ‘Proverbs’ 17:28. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/4 "2010-08-05T14:45:17Z")
This [reanimated zombie thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12767514) has some relevant points… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/5 "2010-08-05T15:29:30Z")
Edited thread title to indicate quote. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/6 "2010-08-05T15:53:59Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. – Bible, ‘Proverbs’ 17:28. The quote in question does not talk about someone keeping quiet and appearing wise, it talks about someone keeping quiet and being thought a fool. And the biblical quote does not mention speaking and thus confirming foolishness. So, it’s only half the quote, the sense of that half is almost the reverse of the quote in question and the element of wry humour is also missing. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/7 "2010-08-06T00:04:52Z")
The basic quote is only found from 1907 in print. It’s certainly not Mark Twain, nor Lincoln. The origin is probably no earlier than the late 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/8 "2025-06-03T18:02:59Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > The basic quote is only found from 1907 in print. **15 years later…** I was wondering where ‘It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt’ came from. Since I found this thread, and since I seem to have found an answer that fits with **samclem** ’s post, I’ll post what I found. > **[Quote Origin: Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and...](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/)** > The earliest known appearance of the adage discovered by **QI** occurred in a book titled “Mrs. Goose, Her Book” by Maurice Switzer. The publication date was 1907 and the copyright notice was 1906. The book was primarily filled with clever nonsense verse, and the phrasing in this early version was slightly different:[5](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/#f44c85d0-1de8-49c7-844c-488b34051c79) > > > It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it. > **QI** thinks that Maurice Switzer is currently the top choice for coiner of the expression though future data may reveal alternative claimants. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/9 "2025-06-04T12:24:34Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/URWLnOJ25uA/hqdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Takes one to know one") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URWLnOJ25uA) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-said-it-better-to-remain-silent-and-be-thought-a-fool/546764/10 "2025-06-04T12:47:22Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > the quote is actually something like “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” The _Book of Job_ has (to pick a translation) “If you would only keep silent, that would be your wisdom!” Boethius has ‘iam tandem," inquit, “intellegis me esse philosophum?” tum ille nimium mordaciter: “intellexeram,” inquit, "si tacuisses.’ Plus all the examples above, prove there are plenty of versions of this ancient maxim.