--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog…" description: "\"The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Right. Still, when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/mark-twain-22_animal_the-old-saw-says-let-a-sleeping-dog-lie_169451.png" --- # The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Right. Still… ![“The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Right. Still, when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/mark-twain-22_animal_the-old-saw-says-let-a-sleeping-dog-lie_169451.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/mark-twain-22_animal_the-old-saw-says-let-a-sleeping-dog-lie_169451.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/mark-twain-22_animal_the-old-saw-says-let-a-sleeping-dog-lie_169451.png) > “The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Right. Still, when there is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoid stirring trouble unless necessary, but when high stakes demand action, intervene decisively. **In simple terms:** Don’t wake problems unless they matter; act when needed. Key Takeaway Weigh risk before acting; intervene when stakes are high. Themes risk management decision making conflict avoidance Mood cautious assertive Type advice pragmatic When to use this quote - political negotiations - business crises - personal boundaries - legal disputes Key Concepts strategic intervention cost‑benefit analysis Questions to Reflect On - When is it worth risking conflict? - How can you assess the true stakes? A Different Perspective Acting can create new complications if not carefully planned. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Better Newspaper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-newspaper-1837306/) [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Lie Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lie-right-1837307/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Newspaper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspaper/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Saw Says](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw-says-1289525/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sleeping Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleeping-dog-1837305/) [Sleeping dogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleeping-dogs/) [Stakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stakes/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [The old saw says - 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Experience knows better; experience says, If you want to convince do it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-old-saw-says-let-a-sleeping-dog-lie-experience-knows-better/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As the old saw says, you really do learn something new every time you get punched in the face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-shaw/as-the-old-saw-says-you-really-do-learn-something-new-every-time-you/) [Johnny Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-shaw/) > [The first time I saw you,' he says, 'I knew we belonged together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/the-first-time-i-saw-you-he-says-i-knew-we-belonged-together/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [As the old saw says well: every end does not appear together with its beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/as-the-old-saw-says-well-every-end-does-not-appear-together-with-its/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [In my show I announce, 'People say Lady Gaga is a lie, and they are right. I am a lie. 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How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franca-storm/why-didn-t-she-wake-me-up-haven-t-you-heard-the-expression-let/) [Franca Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franca-storm/) > [Let sleeping dogs lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-walpole/let-sleeping-dogs-lie/) [Robert Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-walpole/) > [He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/he-is-your-friend-your-partner-your-defender-your-dog-you-are-his/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. 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Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The old saw says, 'Let a sleeping dog lie.' Right. 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