“It is better to conceal ignorance than to expose it.”

— Heraclitus

Fragment 109
Variant translation: Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.
Numbered fragments

Original

ἀμαθίην κρύπτειν ἄμεινον

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Heraclitus 46

pre-Socratic Greek philosopher -535

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I —But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.