another bizarre question

[kaigou]

I'm sure almost all of you have heard the phrase, "better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it" (with the usual web-inflected variations). But the version I came across this afternoon in a translated novel goes like this:

Far better to ask a question and be thought a fool for a moment, than to be silent and remain a fool forever.

The context of the author's use implies that it's some kind of familiar adage, but it's an inversed version that I can't recall ever seeing before. Does anyone else recognize this version? Have any idea where it comes from, or might be able to think of a possible source? Searching the net just got me a bazillion hits on the first phrase (keep-your-mouth-shut) and none that I could see on the second.

I'd just like to be able to attribute it properly whenever I quote it, although I suppose failing any actual attribution I guess I'd just use the novelist's name instead..?

Comments

[askerian]

That's kind of similar to "the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked" or something.

I'm not sure they're 100% flipped versions -- there's a small difference between saying foolish things and asking a foolish question. When you're asking, you're looking for the knowledge to get rid of the foolishness; it's when you're just blurting out stuff without thinking it through properly that it would have been better to shut up, because it proves you're not even noticing you need to better yourself? Or something. Phear my half-assed philosophing. XD