silence is golden

proverb

Peace and quiet have great value.

OriginLatin silentium est aureum →
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Meanings

proverb
  1. Peace and quiet have great value.

    "[I] adore good music, I hate bad, and I despise mediocre. Silence is golden, indeed, compared with poor music."

    1877, Charles Reade, chapter 21, in A Woman-Hater
  2. Often the best choice is to say nothing.

    But I have spoken long enough. There are times when silence is golden, and one of those times is at hand.

    1897, Horatio Alger, chapter 2, in Walter Sherwood's Probation
    1 more example

    I shouldn't lower myself to respond to the personal attacks on me, but silence, as the current scandal plaguing the federal administration shows, isn't golden.

    1987 April 4, T.R. Witomski, “witomski responds to readers' response to witomski (letter)”, in Gay Community News, page 6

Origin

  1. Latinsilentium est aureum“silence is golden”
  2. Englishsilence is golden

Calque of Latin silentium est aureum (“silence is golden”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic اَلسُّكُوتُ مِن ذَهَبٍ
  • اَلسُّكُوتُ مِن ذَهَبٍ (as-sukūtu min ḏahabin)proverb
Bulgarian мълча́нието е зла́то
  • мълча́нието е зла́то (mălčánieto e zláto)proverb
Chinese Mandarin 沉默是金
  • 沉默是金 (chénmò shì jīn)proverb
Czech mlčeti zlato
  • mlčeti zlatoproverb
Danish tale er sølv, tavshed er guld
  • tale er sølv, tavshed er guldproverb
Finnish vaikeneminen on kultaa
  • vaikeneminen on kultaaproverb
French le silence est d'or
  • le silence est d'orproverb
German Schweigen ist Gold
  • Schweigen ist Goldproverb
Greek η σιωπή είναι χρυσός
  • η σιωπή είναι χρυσός (i siopí eínai chrysós)proverb
Hebrew שְׁתִיקָה שָׁוָה זָהָב
  • שְׁתִיקָה שָׁוָה זָהָב (shtiqà shavà zahàv)proverb
Hungarian hallgatni arany
  • hallgatni aranyproverb
Icelandic þögn er gulls ígildi, enginn er allheimskur ef þegja má
  • þögn er gulls ígildiproverb
  • enginn er allheimskur ef þegja máproverb
Indonesian diam itu emas
  • diam itu emasproverb
Irish is binn béal ina thost
  • is binn béal ina thostproverb
Italian il silenzio è d'oro
  • il silenzio è d'oroproverb
Japanese 沈黙は金雄弁は銀
  • 沈黙は金雄弁は銀 (chinmoku wa kin yūben wa gin)proverb
Latin silentium est aurum
  • silentium est aurumproverb
Polish milczenie jest złotem
  • milczenie jest złotemproverb
Portuguese o silêncio é ouro
  • o silêncio é ouroproverb
Scottish Gaelic 's fhearr a bhith sàmhach na droch-dhàn a ghabhail, cha tèid cuileag am beul dùinte
  • 's fhearr a bhith sàmhach na droch-dhàn a ghabhailproverb
  • cha tèid cuileag am beul dùinteproverb
  • am fear a ghlèidheas a theangaidh, ghlèidhidh e a charaidproverb
  • measar an t-amadan glic ma chumas e a theangaproverb
Spanish el silencio es oro, por la boca muere el pez
  • el silencio es oroproverb
  • por la boca muere el pezproverb
Swedish tiga är guld
  • tiga är guldproverb
Vietnamese im lặng là vàng
  • im lặng là vàngproverb
Cite this entry
APA

silence is golden. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/silence%20is%20golden

MLA

“silence is golden.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/silence%20is%20golden. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “silence is golden,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/silence%20is%20golden.

Source: silence is golden on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.