Quote Origin: Nothing Enhances Authority So Much as Silence

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Charles de Gaulle? Leonardo Da Vinci? André Maurois? Gerard Hopkins? Anonymous?

Chess configuration which symbolizes a fallen authority

Question for Quote Investigator: A pithy speech is more powerful than a long-winded oration. Concision amplifies potency. Here are two versions of this idea:

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.
Nothing enhances authority more than silence.

This statement has been credited to the French statesman Charles de Gaulle and the Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci. I am skeptical of these attributions because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1931 Charles de Gaulle published an article titled “Du Prestige” (“Of Prestige”) in the French military journal “Revue Militaire Française”. The following passage discussed speeches delivered by leaders. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

La sobriété du discours accentue le relief de l’attitude. Rien ne rehausse l’autorité mieux que le silence, splendeur des forts et refuge des faibles, pudeur des orgueilleux et fierté des humbles, prudence des sages et esprit des sots. Pour l’homme qui désire ou qui tremble, le mouvement naturel est de chercher dans les mots un dérivatif à l’angoisse.

In 1932 Charles de Gaulle published “Le Fil de l’épée” (“The Edge of the Sword”) which included the article “Du Prestige”.2 Translator Gerard Hopkins rendered this work into English in 1960. The paragraph above appeared as follows:3

Sobriety of speech supplies a useful contrast to theatricality of manner. Nothing more enhances authority than silence. It is the crowning virtue of the strong, the refuge of the weak, the modesty of the proud, and pride of the humble, the prudence of the wise, and the sense of fools. The man who is moved by desire or fear is naturally led to seek relief in words.

QI has not found any substantive support for the ascription of the statement under examination to Leonardo Da Vinci who died in 1519. Da Vinci implausibly received credit in 2004.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Charles de Gaulle’s essay on prestige4 within “Le Fil de l’épée” (“The Edge of the Sword”)5 presented a thematically related point about the desirability of a leader maintaining mystery. Here is the original passage in French followed an English translation:

Et, tout d’abord, le prestige ne peut aller sans mystère, car on révère peu ce que l’on connaît trop bien. Tous les cultes ont leurs tabernacles et il n’y a pas de grand homme pour ses domestiques. Il faut donc que dans les projets, la manière, les mouvements de l’esprit, un élément demeure que les autres ne puissent saisir et qui les intrigue, les émeuve, les tienne en haleine.

First and foremost, there can be no prestige without mystery, for familiarity breeds contempt. All religions have their holy of holies, and no man is a hero to his valet. In the designs, the demeanor, and the mental operations of a leader there must be always a “something” which others cannot altogether fathom, which puzzles them, stirs them, and rivets their attention.

French author André Maurois published the book “Un art de vivre” in 1939 which was translated and published under the title “The Art of Living” in 1940. In chapter seven Maurois discussed “The Art of Leadership”. Maurois credited Charles de Gaulle with an instance of the saying under examination:6

“Nothing,” wrote Colonel de Gaulle, “strengthens authority so much as silence. Speech dilutes thought; it allows one’s courage to leak away; in short, it dissipates the concentration that is required.” Was anyone so taciturn as Bonaparte? The Grand Army followed his example. “I have known officers,” wrote Vigny, “who enveloped themselves in a Trappist silence and never spoke except to give an order.” President Coolidge knew so well that his muteness was useful to him that he remained silent on principle and also to foster his own legend.

In 1963 James Reston wrote an opinion piece in “The New York Times” which attributed the saying to De Gaulle:7

“The great leaders,” he wrote in The Edge of the Sword, “have always carefully stage-managed their effects.” Again, in the same book, he remarks that “Nothing more enhances authority than silence,” and he adds: “Every man of action has a strong dose of egotism, pride, hardness and cunning.”

In 1971 “Gaullism: The Rise and Fall of a Political Movement” by Anthony Hartley included the following passage with a footnote pointing to “Le Fil de l’épée”:8

Public appearances will be carefully studied to produce the maximum effect; public utterances should usually be laconic, while nothing increases authority so much as silence, “the crowning virtue of the strong, the refuge of the weak, the modesty of the proud, and pride of the humble, the prudence of the wise, and the sense of fools.” 57

57. “splendeur des forts et refuge des faibles, pudeur des orgueilleux et fierté des humbles, prudence des sages et esprit des sots.” (FE, p. 80.)

In 1977 “Dictionnaire des citations françaises” (“Dictionary of French Quotations”) included the following entry:9

Charles de Gaulle 1890-1970
Rien ne rehausse l’autorité mieux que le silence, splendeur des forts et refuge des faibles […]
Le Fil de l’épée (Plon)

In 1993 “The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations” contained the following entry:10

Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.
CHARLES DE GAULLE (1890-1970), French general, president.
Quoted in: André Maurois, The Art of Living, “The Art of Leadership” (1940).

In 2004 “The Washington Post” printed a letter to the editor which attributed the saying to the famous Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci:11

Leonardo da Vinci phrased it beautifully when he said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”

In 2006 the compilation “The Tao of Dad: The Wisdom of Fathers Near and Far” contained the following entry:12

Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence.
—Leonardo da Vinci

In 2007 the book “Ultimate Italian Trivia: A Treasure Trove of Fun and Fascinating Facts” included this entry:13

“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”
Leonardo Da Vinci

In conclusion, Charles de Gaulle deserves credit for this statement. He wrote it in an article titled “Du Prestige” within a French military journal in 1931. The phrasing in English varies because there exist multiple translations from French to English. QI has found no support for the attribution to Leonardo Da Vinci.

Image Notes: Chess configuration which symbolizes a fallen authority. Image from Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash. The image has bene cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Michael Hardt whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. 1931 Avril-Juin, Revue Militaire Française: Publiée avec le concours de l’État-major de l’armée, Du Prestige by Chef de bataillon C. de Gaulle (Battalion Commander), Start Page 395, Quote Page 398, End Page 412, Librairie Militaire Berger-Levrault, Nancy Paris-Strasbourg, France. (BNF Gallica Full View) link ↩︎
  2. 1961 (First Edition 1932), Le Fil de l’épée by Charles de Gaulle, Chapter: Du Prestige, Quote Page 71, Éditions Berger-Levrault, Paris. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  3. 1960 Copyright, The Edge of the Sword by Charles de Gaulle, Translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins, Chapter: Of Prestige, Quote Page 59, Criterion Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  4. 1931 Avril-Juin, Revue Militaire Française: Publiée avec le concours de l’État-major de l’armée, Du Prestige by Chef de bataillon C. de Gaulle, Start Page 395, Quote Page 397, End Page 412, Librairie Militaire Berger-Levrault, Nancy Paris-Strasbourg, France. (BNF Gallica Full View) ↩︎
  5. 1960 Copyright, The Edge of the Sword by Charles de Gaulle, Translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins, Chapter: Of Prestige, Quote Page 58, Criterion Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  6. 1940 Copyright, The Art of Living by André Maurois, Translated from the French by James Whitall, Chapter 7: The Art of Leadership, Quote Page 231, Harper & Brothers, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  7. 1963 January 18, New York Times, Washington: On the French Logic of Charles de Gaulle by James Reston, Quote Page 8, Column 3, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎
  8. 1971 Copyright, Gaullism: The Rise and Fall of a Political Movement by Anthony Hartley, Notes, De Gaulle’s Doctrine: The Roots of Gaullism, Note: 57, Quote Page 27 and 316, Outerbridge & Dienstfrey; Distributed by E. P. Dutton & Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  9. 1977 Copyright, Dictionnaire des citations françaises (Dictionary of French quotations), Entry: Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), Quote Page 325, France Loisirs, Paris. (Verified with scan) ↩︎
  10. 1993, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Edited by Robert Andrews, Topic: Authority, Quote Page 72, Columbia University Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  11. 2004 June 3, The Washington Post, Fairfax Letters to the Editor, Letter From: Barbara Bodson of McLean, Quote Page T07, Washington, D.C. (ProQuest) ↩︎
  12. 2006 Copyright, The Tao of Dad: The Wisdom of Fathers Near and Far by Taro Gold, Quote Page 68, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, Missouri. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  13. 2007, Ultimate Italian Trivia: A Treasure Trove of Fun and Fascinating Facts by Scott Paul Frush, Chapter 8: Language, Literature, & Philosophy, Quote Page 99, Marshall Rand Publishing, Royal Oak, Michigan. (Verified with scans) ↩︎