‘My lord,’ you say, ‘engaged me for that worth;’ -
True, and preserve it ready to come forth:
If questioned, fairly answer, - and that done,
Shrink back, be silent, and thy father’s son;
For they who doubt thy talents scorn thy boast,
But they who grant them will dislike thee most:
Observe the prudent; they in silence sit,
Display no learning, and affect no wit;
They hazard nothing, nothing they assume,
But know the useful art of acting dumb.