Often attributed to Plato, it cannot be found in any of his writings. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=796
Misattributed
“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they would like to say something. As empty vessels make the loudest sounds, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”
Often attributed to Plato, it cannot be found in any of his writings ( see this http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=796). The quote is attributed to Plato in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, Both Ancient and Modern (page 560) by Tryon Edwards.
Misattributed
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Plato 80
Classical Greek philosopher -427–-347 BCRelated quotes
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”
“Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something”
“You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”
Notebook E: Epigrams, Wisecracks, and Jokes https://books.google.com/books?id=NIhKY8SpAE4C&q=%22You%20don%27t%20write%20because%20you%20want%20to%20say%20something%3B%20you%20write%20because%20you%27ve%20got%20something%20to%20say.%22&pg=PA123#v=onepage, edited by Edmund Wilson (1945)
Quoted, The Crack-Up (1936)
Nus ne puet estre trop parliers
Qui sovent tel chose ne die
Qui torné li est affolie,
Car li sages dit et retrait:
Qui trop parole, il se mesfait.
Source: Perceval or Le Conte du Graal, Line 1650.
“It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it.”