What is the exact Mark Twain quote? I remember only the gist of it.?

Question

It's something like 'If you don't know what something is, you'd be more of a fool to criticize it than praise it.' Basically, if somebody's talking about something you don't know about, don't try to show off your knowledge by criticizing it, do it by praising it, if you have to... It was something like that.

I'm pretty sure it's a Mark Twain quote. It MAY be an Einstein quote. (They're both white fuzzy haired American person...maybe I got them confused?)

It's something like 'If you don't know what something is, you'd be more of a fool to criticize it than praise it.' Basically, if somebody's talking about something you don't know about, don't try to show off your knowledge by criticizing it, do it by praising it, if you have to... It was something like that.

I'm pretty sure it's a Mark Twain quote. It MAY be an Einstein quote. (They're both white fuzzy haired American person...maybe I got them confused?)

NOTE: It is NOT the "it is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than..." quote. Sorry, guys. But thanks anyway! =)

Answer 1

"One can do so much more in this world by praise than by criticism, and it's so much better for one's nature as well as comfort." ~~From "The Chaperon" by Paul Leicester Ford, The Century Magazine, Vol. LXIV, No. 3, Page 331, July 1902

Sorry, I couldn't find a quote with the word "fool" in it. Hope this helps.

Okay, here are some Mark Twain quotes one has fool and the other praise. I got them off of a quotes page so I do not have a precise attribution. However, you should be able to find it if you need it.

"It is human to like to be praised; one can even notice it in the French." ~~From "What Paul Bourget Thinks of Us"

"Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed." ~~From "Following the Equator"; "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar"

And, finally, an Albert Einstein:

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction." ~~Albert Einstein

Answer 2

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” -Mark Twain

Maybe... ?

EDIT: Not that one? Maybe...

"The individual must not merely wait and criticize, he must defend the cause the best he can. The fate of the world will be such as the world deserves." - Albert Einstein

Answer 3

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

Answer 4

I would rather have my ignorance than another man's knowledge, because I have so much more of it.
- Letter to W.D. Howells, 2/10/1875

Here's a link to find more if that's not right...
http://www.twainquotes.com/Ignorance.html

EDIT: Never mind. She got it. :-)