“If I listened to your advice, I'd be making your mistakes instead of my own.”
Source: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter II
Context: Listen widely to remove your doubts and be careful when speaking about the rest and your mistakes will be few. See much and get rid of what is dangerous and be careful in acting on the rest and your causes for regret will be few. Speaking without fault, acting without causing regret: 'upgrading' consists in this.
多聞闕疑,慎言其餘,則寡尤。多見闕殆,慎行其餘,則寡悔。言寡無,行寡悔,祿在其中矣。
“If I listened to your advice, I'd be making your mistakes instead of my own.”
Source: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
“Listen, my body is attracted to your body but when you speak it makes my brain angry.”
“Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.”
“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”
Cited as an example of "What Mark Twain Didn't Say" in Mark Twain by Geoffrey C. Ward, et al.
Misattributed
Variant: It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker (2001) by Clifford Mead and Thomas Hager.
1990s
Context: When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect — but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate — may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical — always think for yourself.
“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”
“Your job is to get your audience to care about your obsessions.”