The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
Variant: You do ill if you praise, and still worse if you reprove in a matter you do not understand.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower
“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves”
Durant, Will. Commencement Speech. We Have a Right To Be Happy Today https://web.archive.org/web/20130106111821/http://www.willdurant.com/youth.htm. Webb School of Claremont, CA. 7 Jun 1958.
Context: To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.
Pali Canon 42-43 Cittavagga The Mind http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.03.than.html.
Unclassified
“3918. Praise makes good Men better, and bad Men worse.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
Variant: 3162. Learning makes a good Man better, and an ill Man worse.
Source: Epigrams, p. 346
