Discretion is more valued in Washington, DC, than fidelity. My favorite quote is by Christine Keeler, “Discretion is the polite word for hypocrisy.”
I have collected a handful of famous quotes on discretion you might find amusing:
“A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all.” — Thomas Hardy
“As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.” — Bible
“Be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish.” — Sir Walter Raleigh
“Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious.” — Arthur Wellesley
“Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature.” — William Shakespeare
“Be wiser than other people, if you can; but do not tell them so.” — Lord Chesterfield
“Better a living dog than a dead lion.” — Proverb
“By placing discretion in the hands of an official to grant or deny a license, such a statute creates a threat of censorship that by its very existence chills free speech.” — Harry A. Blackmun
“Depart from discretion when it interferes with duty.” — Hannah More
“Discretion and hard valor are the twins of honor.” — Beaumont and Fletcher.
“Discretion is being able to raise your eyebrow instead of your voice.” — Anonymous
“Discretion is more necessary to women than eloquence, because they have less trouble to speak well than to speak little.” — Father Du Bosc.
“Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life.” — Sir Walter Scott
“Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to win all the duties of life.” — Addison.
“Discretion is the polite word for hypocrisy.” — Christine Keeler
“Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.” — Francis Bacon
“For he that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day, but he, who is in battle slain, can never rise and fight again.” — Oliver Goldsmith
“Great ability without discretion comes almost invariably to a tragic end.” — Gambetta.
“I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway. I would prefer to, I assure you” — it would make life easier. But discretion is, unfortunately, not for novelists.” — Philip Roth
“I have seen the day of wrong through the little hole of discretion, and I will right myself like a soldier.” — William Shakespeare
“It shew’d discretion, the best part of valor.” — Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
“Let’s teach ourselves that honorable stop, Not to outsport discretion.” — William Shakespeare
“Nay, but do so then; and look you, he may come and go between you both; and in any case have a nay-word, that you may know one another’s mind, and the boy never need to understand anything; for ’tis not good that children should know any wickedness. Old folks, you know, have discretion, as they say, and know the world.” — William Shakespeare
“Never say oops in the operating room.” — Dr. Leo Troy
“Never wrestle with a strong man nor bring a rich man to court.” — Latvian Proverb
“Notable talents are not necessarily connected with discretion.” — Junius
“Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable.” — Jean de La Fontaine
“Perish discretion when it interferes with duty.” — Hannah Moore
“Question your grace the late ambassadors, With what great state he heard their embassy, How well supplied with noble counsellors, How modest in exception, and withal How terrible in constant resolution, And you shall find his vanities forespent Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus, Covering discretion with a coat of folly; As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots That shall first spring and be most delicate.” — William Shakespeare
“Remember the divine saying, He that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life.” — Sir Walter Raleigh.
“The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life.” — William Shakespeare
“There are many more shining qualities in the mind of man, but there is none so useful as discretion.” — Addison.
