Similar quote by Mark Twain
> It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
> It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
This even shows up in tech - Bill Gates isn't exactly known for widespread political opinions, and while we all know he was probably not a great person early on, he's now generally contributing to universally approved causes, and otherwise just there, so to some extent he's a symbol of the possibilities available through tech.
Meanwhile, you've got Elon, who I think would be reasonably similar - if he could stay the hell off Twitter and stop overpromising so goddamn often. He could have ended up as a symbol for the commercial space revolution and the surge of EV popularity, but instead he's polarising and often hated.
Generally, polarisation isn't great for authority figures. Even in politics this is sort of true - relatively centrist parties often have broader appeal than extreme views. (Though because politicians are our means of changing things, there's also an aversion to politicians with no opinions at all.)
You probably haven't been following Gates lately. His reputation has tarnished in the last couple of years.
2. Divorce
3. Melinda hinting that 1. had something to do with 2.
If the quote stated "If you are ignorant on a topic it's better not to discuss it" that would be advise. (Though less quippy).
But I read the quote as essentially saying:
"You are so incredibly stupid you should never, ever attempt to speak to another human being ever again, on any conceivable subject".
But maybe some people don't take it that way.
The advice has been written and uttered in various forms for millennia.
> If the quote stated "If you are ignorant on a topic it's better not to discuss it" that would be advise. (Though less quippy).
Your quote would be different advice; it doesn't have the same meaning nor implications.
> But I read the quote as essentially saying: "You are so incredibly stupid you should never, ever attempt to speak to another human being ever again, on any conceivable subject".
How many of your personal experiences are you reading into a context-free aphorism of the ages? Friendly suggestion: you may be making this same mistake when interpreting words in other situations.
What meanings or implications does the aphorism have other than "some people (fools in this case) shouldn't ever talk?"
We've established you think I've misinterpreted the aphorism and that you suspect there's something socially off with me, but we haven't established what you think the aphorism means. Go on, educate me.