Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it. (Strauss, 1994 p. 661)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Offer advice or criticism only when requested
Literally: providing salt or advice without prompt
Examples
She waited to give her opinion, remembering the proverb that one should give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it. (Strauss, 1994 p. 661)” mean?
Offer advice or criticism only when requested Literally: providing salt or advice without prompt
Is “Give neither salt nor counsel till you are asked for it. (Strauss, 1994 p. 661)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.