Ted Turner removes all doubt; Hummus (1873) and Syrian Food

[Fred Shapiro]

First, a personal political note:  I spend a lot of my time arguing
pro-Israeli positions against my father-in-law, who is a strong
Palestinian sympathizer.  But, in the face of Barry's comments about Ted
Turner, I feel I have to speak up and say that I believe there is some
truth, perhaps considerable truth, in what Ted Turner says (not about the
hijackers being brave, which, although true in some literal sense, is a
really stupid comment, but about terror being bilateral).

As for the quotation, "It is better to stay silent and have people think
you a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt," this is a
proverb or pseudo-Lincolnism.  The earliest citation for it in the files
of the Yale Dictionary of Quotations is dated 1931; in the 1931 occurrence
it is attributed to Lincoln.  There is no evidence of Lincoln actually
having said this.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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