“Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.”

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Winston S. Churchill601

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874–1965

Robert Newton Peck book A Day No Pigs Would Die

Source: A Day No Pigs Would Die

“If A is success in life, then A = x + y + z. Work is x, play is y and z is keeping your mouth shut.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

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.

“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)

“If you only ever read one book in your life I highly recommend… keeping your f***ing mouth shut.”

Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

sic
Cut It Out (2004)

“Half of seeming clever is keeping your mouth shut at the right times.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

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.