Meaning & Analysis
Physically, a deep body of water has a calmer, less turbulent surface because the flow is less obstructed by the riverbed, unlike a shallow, rocky stream which creates more visible disturbance.
Insights
Depth and Serenity
A person's calm and quiet exterior may conceal great intelligence, wisdom, or emotional depth. Their silence is a sign of substance, not a lack of thought or feeling.
Hidden Danger
A placid appearance can be deceptive, hiding dangerous undercurrents of malice, ambition, or turmoil. This interpretation serves as a warning to be cautious of those who seem overly serene or demure.
Quiet Strength
True strength and competence do not require loud or boastful displays. The most capable and powerful individuals are often the most unassuming and composed.
Contained Passion
Intense emotions, such as profound love or deep-seated anger, often exist beneath a tranquil surface rather than being expressed with overt drama.
Literary and Historical Resonance
Dating back to classical antiquity and prominently featured in Elizabethan literature, including Shakespeare's 'Henry VI', the proverb reflects a timeless observation that a calm demeanor can conceal profound thoughts, strong emotions, or hidden dangers.
Psychological Insight
The proverb serves as a powerful psychological caution against judging individuals by their outward placidity. It suggests that true strength, intelligence, or passion is often quiet and contained, challenging the common bias of mistaking silence for weakness or simplicity.
The Quiet vs. Loud Dichotomy
The proverb's meaning is amplified by its implicit contrast with the related idea that 'shallow waters make the greatest sound'. This establishes a classic dichotomy between quiet substance and noisy superficiality, a recurring theme in moral and philosophical discourse.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The physical properties of water serve as a direct metaphor for human character, translating a natural phenomenon into a complex observation about personality and emotion.
Juxtaposition
The proverb creates a memorable paradox by juxtaposing surface tranquility ('smoothest') with underlying intensity ('deepest'), highlighting the contrast between appearance and reality.
Imagery
The image of a silent, deep river is potent and universally understood, making the abstract concept of hidden depth tangible and memorable.
Transcription
Quotations
Where the streame runneth smoothest, the water is deepest.
A man might contrariwise apply another Proverbe to the learned, That where the ryver is deepest, it runneth quietest.
Small rivers murmur, deep gulfs silent flow.
Where riuers runne most stilly, they are the deepest.
Take heede of still waters, the quick passe away.
[As in 1640 Herb.]
Where the water is most still, there it is deepest.
Smooth Waters run deep.
Spoken to or of them who seem demure, yet are suspected to be roguish.
Where the River is deepest, it runneth quietest.
Shakespeare Citations
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.
Cross References
- See DUR., II, no. 399
- OTTO, no. 679
- Sr., no. 2531
- M78 Beware of a silent man (dog) and still water
- W130 Shallow waters make the greatest Sound.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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