--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Knowledge is power only as long as you…" description: "\"Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.\" — Margaret Atwood" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg" --- # Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut. ![“Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg) > “Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.” [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power is useless if you cannot keep your thoughts private; silence protects influence. **In simple terms:** Power requires discretion; speak wisely. Key Takeaway Guard your words to maintain power. Themes secrecy control communication Mood reflective critical Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - politics - personal relationships - activism Key Concepts information theory social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - When is speaking out more powerful than silence? - What risks arise from keeping secrets? A Different Perspective Silence can also suppress truth and accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knowledge is power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-is-power/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) ## Related quotes > [Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-boyce/knowledge-is-power-knowledge-shared-is-power-multiplied/) Robert Boyce > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-droke/knowledge-is-power-and-enthusiasm-pulls-the-switch/) Steve Droke > [X + Y + Z X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/x-y-z-x-is-work-y-is-play-z-is-keep-your-mouth-shut/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You're almost always better off keeping your mouth shut, but don't let that stop you from popping off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/you-re-almost-always-better-off-keeping-your-mouth-shut-but-don-t-let/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [“Knowledge is power, but how you use that power defines whether you're good, or evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-jackson/knowledge-is-power-but-how-you-use-that-power-defines-whether-you-re/) [Daniel Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-jackson/) > [Knowledge is power-and power of one sort or another is the secret lust of human souls; and here is, beside the sense of exploration,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sheridan-le-fanu/knowledge-is-power-and-power-of-one-sort-or-another-is-the-secret/) [Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sheridan-le-fanu/) > [Some say knowledge is power, but that is not true. Character is power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/some-say-knowledge-is-power-but-that-is-not-true-character-is-power/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [I am convinced that knowledge is power - to overcome the past, to change our own situations, to fight new obstacles, to make better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-convinced-that-knowledge-is-power-to-overcome-the-past-to-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Knowledge is Power, Power provides Information; Information leads to Education, Education breeds Wisdom; Wisdom is Liberation. People are not liberated because of lack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/knowledge-is-power-power-provides-information-information-leads-to/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [It is a common sentence that Knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of Ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-a-common-sentence-that-knowledge-is-power-but-who-hath-duly-2/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Knowledge is power. Oleh karena itu, perwira harus berpengetahuan luas. Asahlah pengetahuan dan wawasan kalian. Sekarang ini di banyak negara, di militer yang modern,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sbyudhoyono/knowledge-is-power-oleh-karena-itu-perwira-harus-berpengetahuan-luas/) [SBYudhoyono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sbyudhoyono/) > [I think in the NFL knowledge is power, and you try to get the knowledge by whatever means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-sabol/i-think-in-the-nfl-knowledge-is-power-and-you-try-to-get-the/) [Steve Sabol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-sabol/) > [It is a common sentence that knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/it-is-a-common-sentence-that-knowledge-is-power-but-who-hath-duly/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-morgan/knowledge-is-power-information-is-power-the-secreting-or-hoarding-of/) [Robin Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-morgan/) ## More by Margaret Atwood > [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/) [margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More Knowledge quotes > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment. This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bankei-yotaku/an-enlightened-awareness-is-within-each-one-of-us-right-at-this/) [Bankei Yotaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bankei-yotaku/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I never knew any man who had once tasted the sweetness of experimental knowledge, that ever afterward fasted after ye Vapour garlick and onions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/i-never-knew-any-man-who-had-once-tasted-the-sweetness-of/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/i-would-rather-excel-others-in-the-knowledge-of-what-is-excellent/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I've always been a believer in research. It's great to have an instinctual human reaction to a character, too, of course, but it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiwetel-ejiofor/i-ve-always-been-a-believer-in-research-it-s-great-to-have-an/) [Chiwetel Ejiofor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiwetel-ejiofor/) > [I am an aware citizen, so I want my characters to be aware, too. They should be aware of what's happening in the society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-tripathi/i-am-an-aware-citizen-so-i-want-my-characters-to-be-aware-too-they/) [Pankaj Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-tripathi/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Love is a vision,love carry our vision,and love by-step our vision. we carry our love to our by-step. once love is vision love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-vision-love-carry-our-vision-and-love-by-step-our-vision-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-is-an-ignoramus-athirst-for-knowledge/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) [Browse all 13,227 Knowledge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Atwood" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-keep-your-mouth-shut/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Knowledge" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-keep-your-mouth-shut/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcd/margaret-atwood-40_knowledge_knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-k_2404500.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Knowledge is power only as long as you keep your mouth shut.” — Margaret Atwood", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Margaret Atwood", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Knowledge is power only as long...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-keep-your-mouth-shut/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/knowledge-is-power-only-as-long-as-you-keep-your-mouth-shut/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```