Abraham Lincoln got it right when he offered counsel back in the 1800s:
"It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and resolve all doubt."
Barack Obama's political muse - also from Illinois but preferring elephant hide to the traditional donkey jacket - was the first ever Republican president of the United States.
It's his bicentennial this year and I was reminded of his brilliant piece of advice when I was putting together a presentation at the BBC College of Journalism for the new intake of Journalism Trainees.
I met them last week - and what an inspiring, fantastic group of people they are. Fifteen bright, brilliant youngsters who all feel honoured and privileged to be starting their careers here at the BBC.
I was there to advise them how to develop their telephone journalism skills: how best to maximise your journalistic success when your only option is to use the phone. Abraham Lincoln helped me make the point that you need to be clear of your facts - and that you shouldn't be afraid of admitting you don't know something. Better to research the truth than live the lie.
I was struck by how optimistic and open the trainees were and particularly by their enthusiasm about landing up here at the BBC. Not in a naïve, fresh-faced kind of way, but in a truly touching way. I hope their vigour and keenness will similarly reach out and touch colleagues. It's important sometimes to take a step back and remember how fortunate we are to be working at this amazing place. There are plenty of opportunities to seize here - you've just got to look out for them and go for it.
It got me thinking that, although Lincoln is right, there's no harm in having a little fun along the way. Yes, get your facts right, but make the journey an adventure. Lincoln shares his bicentenary with our very own historical notable: Charles Darwin. And Darwin had one or two thoughts of his own on the matter.
"I love fools' experiments. I am always making them," he said.
And without that innate - dare I say - journalistic curiosity Darwin displayed to find out how things fitted together and why ... he simply would not have played with "fools' experiments" ... And it was these experiments that paved the way for the extraordinary scientific understanding we now have of the natural world.
I love the idea that Lincoln and Darwin were born in the same year. Such different people, such diverse achievements - living on the planet at exactly the same time. And here we are, 200 years on, still feeling the impact they made on our lives. Lincoln recognised that "all men are created free and equal". Thankfully - all these years later - the world is beginning to catch up with his thinking. As for Darwin, he said: "My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts." Isn't that our job in journalism - to assess and process facts in order to make sense of them for a wider audience?
I hope the trainees dive into their time here at the BBC with the words of both these wise men ringing in their ears.
To call on Darwin once more: "In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed."
So, whether you're one of those 15 trainees or an older hand ... pull together, adapt where necessary, be faithful to fact and enjoy the ride. Forget the fool's paradise - this is your gateway to a place where even the smallest insect has its place and function in its own beautiful way.
