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Discretion is the best form of calculation.

— Honoré de Balzac The Girl with Golden Eyes (1833)

La discrétion est le plus habile des calculs.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

La Fille aux yeux d'or (The Girl with the Golden Eyes) (1835), translated by Ellen Marriage, ch. III

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Honoré de Balzac (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.