Meaning & Analysis
Be discreet in speech, action, and judgment—don’t say everything you know, do everything you’re capable of, or accept everything you hear as true.
Insights
Prudence in Conduct
The proverb advocates restraint in thought, speech, and behavior. It warns that unfiltered expression or unchecked action may lead to vulnerability, conflict, or regret.
Wisdom Through Self-Control
Symbolically, it defines wisdom as the disciplined management of one’s faculties. True power lies not in speaking or acting freely, but in knowing when to refrain.
Guarded Skepticism
This line promotes a cautious relationship with information. It advises filtering hearsay and withholding belief until discernment has been applied.
Machiavellian Self-Preservation
Echoing Renaissance political philosophy, the proverb functions as a guide to personal safety and strategic survival—valuing circumspection as a defensive tool in an uncertain world.
Echoes of Shakespearean Counsel
Shakespeare’s *King Lear* delivers a near-parallel—'Speak less than thou knowest'—emphasizing the cultural esteem placed on restraint and forethought in both private virtue and public life.
Social Wisdom in Folk Traditions
From medieval conduct books to Franklin’s maxims, this triadic structure appears repeatedly in proverbs across cultures, signaling its deep entrenchment in moral pedagogy and folk ethics.
Rhetorical Devices
Triadic Structure
The proverb’s use of three balanced clauses builds rhythmic and rhetorical force, a classic mnemonic device that enhances memorability and persuasive power.
Parallelism
The repetition of syntactic form (‘speak not… do not… believe not…’) creates a poetic and didactic cadence that reinforces the moral logic of moderation.
Negative Imperative
Framing each clause as a warning (‘speak not,’ ‘do not,’ ‘believe not’) sharpens its cautionary tone and casts it as preventative wisdom.
Transcription
Quotations
Say not all that thou kanne.
Beleue not euery speache, nor speake not all you heare.
Men know more then they speak if they be wise.
Thinke more then thou speakes, and hope for the best.
Beleue not all thou hearest: doe not all thou maiest: nor speake all that thou knowest.
Never tell all thou knowest, thou canst, or hast.
Do not speak all thou knowest, do not judge all thou seest, and thou shalt live in peace.
Never offer to speak, or tell all thou knowst, or canst, or hast to say.
Do not discover what thou hearest, shew not what thou hast, take not all thou desirest, speak not all thou knowst, do not all thou canst do, and thou shalt live happily.
All that thou knowest do not speak.
Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou hast, nor all thou canst.
Shakespeare Citations
Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest, Ride more than thou goest, Learn more than thou trowest.
Cross References
- See DÜR., II, no. 249.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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