if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's better to remain silent than to speak unkindly
Examples
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, so just listen to the presentation
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 “if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all” mean?
It's better to remain silent than to speak unkindly
Is “if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.