George Boole (1815–1864) English mathematician, philosopher and logician
Source: 1850s, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought (1854), p. 37; Cited in: William Torrey Harris (1879) The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, p. 109
Said to Samuel J Woolf, Berlin, Summer 1929. Cited with additional notes in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice and Freeman Dyson, Princeton UP (2010) p 230
1920s
Variant: If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
George Boole (1815–1864) English mathematician, philosopher and logician
Source: 1850s, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought (1854), p. 37; Cited in: William Torrey Harris (1879) The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, p. 109
“Success = 1 part work + 1 part play + 1 part keep your mouth shut”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Source: Ideas and Opinions
Karl Pearson (1857–1936) English mathematician and biometrician
As quoted by E.S. Pearson, Karl Pearson: An Appreciation of Some Aspects of his Life and Work (1938) and cited in Bernard J. Norton, "Karl Pearson and Statistics: The Social Origins of Scientific Innovation" in Social Studies of Science, Vol. 8, No. 1, Theme Issue: Sociology of Mathematics (Feb.,1978), pp. 3-34.
David Eugene Smith (1860–1944) American mathematician
Source: History of Mathematics (1925) Vol.2, p.449
Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) Swedish painter
Quote from Friedrich's writings Thoughts on Art, Caspar David Friedrich; as cited in Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p. 32 <br class="br">Variant translation:<br>The artist's feeling is his law. Pure sensibility can never be Unnatural; it is always in harmony with nature. But the feelings of another must never be imposed on us as our law. Spiritual relationship produces artistic resemblance, but this relationship is very different from imitation. Whatever one may say about X.'s paintings, and however much they may resemble Y.'s, they originated in him and are his own. (** In: 'Caspar David Friedrich's Medieval Burials', Karl Whittington - http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/spring12/whittington-on-caspar-david-friedrichs-medieval-burials) <br class="br">undated
“Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
“[Y]ou must have a clear picture in your mind of what success would look, sound, and feel like.”
David Allen book Getting Things Done
Source: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (2001), Ch. 3
“Never miss a chance… to keep your mouth shut.”
Robert Newton Peck book A Day No Pigs Would Die
Source: A Day No Pigs Would Die
“If you only ever read one book in your life… I highly recommend you keep your mouth shut.”
Simon Munnery (1967) British comedian
Attention Scum! (2001), How To Live (2005)