20 Jul 2008

kaigou: this is what I do, darling (militant apostrophe)
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..?

whois

kaigou: this is what I do, darling (Default)
锴 angry fishtrap 狗

to remember

"When you make the finding yourself— even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light— you'll never forget it." —Carl Sagan

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