Always Say Less Than Necessary (48 Laws of Power)

• They quickly try to fill the silence, and in the process reveal motivations and weaknesses — information you can use.
• Later they’ll obsess over every word you said and its potential implications. The inordinate attention they give to your brief comments adds to your power.

Saying less will make you mysterious. People will struggle to find what did you mean.

• When we say more, there's a greater chance to say something foolish.
• For instance, in the early 1800s, a Russian rebel named Ryleyev talked too much and paid for it with his life. Nicholas I had sentenced him to death, but at the moment he was being hanged the rope broke. Believing he’d be pardoned, as usually happened in such cases, he yelled to the crowd that Russia couldn’t get anything right, even rope. Instead of pardoning him, Nicholas responded, “Let’s prove the contrary,” and Ryleyev was hanged the next day with a rope that held.

• It can make people suspicious
• Sometimes it’s smarter to play the court jester, and make yourself seem foolish and harmless despite being smarter than the king.
• If you want to distract anyone, talking foolish may be used as an Smokescreen