Few things in life are more embarrassing than the necessity of having to inform an old friend that you have just got engaged to his fiancee.
W. C. FieldsRead
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that if you cannot impress others with intelligence, you can confuse them instead.
W. C. Fields humorously implies that in situations where one lacks substance or brilliance, resorting to confusion or deception can be an alternative strategy to gain attention or control a conversation. It reflects a witty perspective on how people sometimes prefer to distract from lack of knowledge or insight with overwhelming talk.
In practice
This quote can be used during a comedy show to highlight the absurdities of trying to impress people.
Few things in life are more embarrassing than the necessity of having to inform an old friend that you have just got engaged to his fiancee.
Drown in a cold vat of whiskey? Death, where is thy sting?
I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. There's no legal proof. Which proves that earthquakes aren't all bad.
Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.
I never vote for anyone. I always vote against.
Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times.
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
I do note with interest that old women in my books become young women on the covers... this is discrimination against the chronologically gifted.
When you look like your passport photo, it's time to go home.
There are no exceptions to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule.
Give a critic an inch, he'll write a play.
I always say that I've been in a bad mood for maybe 35 years now. I try to lighten it up, but that's what comes out when you get me on camera.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.