He is a strange talker, and one who always finds the means of telling you nothing with a great flow of words. There is no sense at all in his tittle-tattle, and all that we hear is but noise.
[tr. Van Laun (1878), 2.5]

He is a strange tattler, and then he had always the art of saying nothing at great length. One can never see anything in the arguments which he holds, and all we hear is nothing but noise.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 2.3]

He is a strange tattler, and he has the art of telling you nothing with an abundance of words. There is not an atom of sense in what he says: it is nothing but noise.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

He is a marvelous talker -- one who finds
The art of saying naught with many words.
You can't make head or tail of his discourse,
And what you listen to is only noise.
[tr. Page (1913), 2.5]

Oh, he's a wondrous talker, and has the power
To tell you nothing hour after hour:
If, by mistake, he ever came to the point,
The shock would put his jawbone out of joint.
[tr. Wilbur (1954), 2.5]

He's perfect in his way. He has learned the art
Of saying all and signifying nothing.
Since he achieves a total lack of meaning,
His words are properly a social noise.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

Yes, his strange mania for reasoning
Makes him talk on, and never say a thing:
His discourse in obscurity abounds
And all you listen to is merely sounds.
[tr. Frame (1967), 2.4]

Table talk and lovers' talk equally elude the grasp; lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Love talk and table talk are equally indescribable, for the first is cloud, the second smoke.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Chat at table, the chat of love; it is as impossible to reproduce one as the other; the chat of love is a cloud; the chat at table is smoke.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

Table-talk and lovers’ talk, both fleeting as air. Lovers’ talk is the mist and table-talk the scent.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Table talk and lovers' talk are equally elusive; lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

For it is not so hard to keep always silence, as it is not to exceed in words when we speak much.
[tr. Whitford/Raynal (1530/1871)]

For it is not so hard always to keep silence as it is not to exceed in words when we speak much.
[tr. Whitford/Gardiner (1530/1955)]

It is easier not to speak a word at all, then not to speake more words then we should.
[tr. Page (1639), 1.20.6]

'Tis certainly much easier for a Man to restrain himself from Talking at all, than to enter into Discourse, and not say more than becomes him.
[tr. Stanhope (1696; 1706 ed.)]

For it is much easier to be wholly silent, than not to exceed in word.
[tr. Payne (1803), 1.20.3]

It is much easier to be wholly silent, than not to exceed in talk.
[tr. Dibdin (1851)]

It is easier to be altogether silent, than not to go to excess in speaking.
[ed. Bagster (1860)]

For it is easier to be altogether silent than it is not to exceed in word.
[tr. Benham (1874)]

It is easier not to speak at all, than not to exceed in speech.
[tr. Anon. (1901)]

It is easier to be silent altogether than not to speak too much.
[tr. Croft/Bolton (1940)]

It is easier to be quite silent than not to say a word too much.
[tr. Daplyn (1952)]

It is easier to keep silence altogether than not to talk more than we should.
[tr. Sherley-Price (1952)]

Easier to keep your mouth shut than to talk without saying too much.
[tr. Knox-Oakley (1959)]

It is easier to keep quiet altogether than not to say a word too much.
[tr. Knott (1962)]

To remain entirely silent is easier than not to talk too much.
[tr. Rooney (1979)]

It is easier to be completely silent than not to be long-winded.
[tr. Creasy (1989)]

Nor can I guess at the cause, (though it is certainly fact) why he that knows the least, should always talk the most.
[tr. Graves (1774)]

I cannot divine how it happens that the man who knows the least is the most argumentative.
[Source]

A chattering fellow, who had been abusing him, said to him, “Have not I been jeering you properly?” “Not that I know of,” said he, “for I have not been listening to you.”
[tr. Yonge (1853)]

To the chatterbox who poured out a flood of talk upon him and then inquired, "Have I bored you to death with my chatter?" he replied, "No, indeed; for I was not attending to you."
[tr. Hicks (1925), sec. 20]

To the man talking endlessly when he assailed him with words and asked “Have I worn you out with nonsense”, he said “By Zeus, no! I wasn’t listening to you.”
[tr. @sentantiq (2016)]

[Comme c’est le caractère des grands esprits de faire entendre avec peu de paroles beaucoup de choses, les petits esprits, en revanche, ont le don de beaucoup parler, et de ne dire rien.]

As great Wits have a peculiar Faculty of saying a great deal in a little; so half witted Fellows have a Talent of talking much, and yet saying nothing.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶143]

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶414; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶137]

It is the characteristic of great wits to say much in a few words; small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶419]

As it is the characteristic of great wits; to convey a great deal in a few words, so, on the contrary, small wits have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶145]

As it is the mark of great minds to say many things in a few words, so it is that of little minds to use many words to say nothing.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶142]

As it is a trait of powerful intellects to express much in a few words; inversely, small minds talk much and say little.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶142]

It is a mark of great minds to say much in a few words. On the other hand, small minds possess the gift of talking much and saying nothing.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶142]

As it is the mark of great minds to convey much in few words, so small minds are skilled at talking at length and saying little.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶142]

As the stamp of great minds is to suggest much in a few words, so, contrariwise, little minds have the gift of talking a great deal and saying nothing.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶142]

As it is the character of great minds to make many things understood in few words; so small minds, on the contrary, have the gift of speaking much, and saying nothing.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Just as great spirits make much understood with few words, small ones have the gift of speaking very much without saying anything.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]

We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much, a common and trivial maxim which every body knows, and no body practices.
[Bullord ed. (1696) and Curll ed. (1713)]

We seldom repent talking too little, but very often talking too much; a common obsolete Maxim, which every body knows, and no body practices.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

We seldom repent of speaking little, and very often of speaking too much; a well-worn and familiar maxim, that everyone knows but that not everyone practices.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]