The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.

You have a change that hasn’t been saved yet. Clicking out of the box saves it — closing now throws that change away.

The secret of being a bore is to tell everything. — Voltaire · Smartyfair

The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.

Source not found yetStories

In plain words

Telling absolutely everything is how you lose your listener.

Look up a word

How sure this is: 60% sureLots of sources credit Voltaire with this, and they agree with each other. The book or the speech it first came from hasn't turned up yet.
What turned up: Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme, "Sixième discours" (1738): "Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire." No named English translator located; French original + work/year confirmed.
Work: Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme
Occasion: 1738
Sources checked: en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-sonnet-5, 21 August 2026Sourced section, raw wikitext fetch — French original + citation