Souce of a Shakespearian Quote "Listen to Many...."

[BSquared18]

Hello,

I want to use the following quote from Shakespeare:

Listen to many,
speak to a few.

Most quotes you find online give a play or sonnet, etc as the source. All I've found for this quote is Shakespeare's name. Can anyone tell me where it came from?

Thanks,
Bill

[wessexgirl]

Hello,

I want to use the following quote from Shakespeare:

Listen to many,
speak to a few.

Most quotes you find online give a play or sonnet, etc as the source. All I've found for this quote is Shakespeare's name. Can anyone tell me where it came from?

Thanks,
Bill

I think it's Polonius from Hamlet.

[BSquared18]

Thanks. I thought it sounded like him but couldn't find it in any of the searchable versions of Shakespeare. After your response, I searched some more and discovered why. The original text is

Give every man thy ear,
but few thy voice;

Which sounds much better than the modern version.

Bill

[Hopfrog]

Great Jesu, I am utterly scandalized that there are "updatings" or rewritings of Shakespeare!!! I must be living under a rock as I had absolutely no clue of this. I swoon with horror at the very idea!!! Eeeeeeeeek!