Still Waters

[Dark Angel]

How did the term "still waters run deep" originate?

[shaneystar2]

A quiet person may be very profound, as in Susie rarely says much, but still waters run deep. The physical observation in this term dates from ancient times, but it has been used figuratively since about 1400. Anthony Trollope amplified it in He Knew He Was Right (1869): �That's what I call still water. She runs deep enough. . . . So quiet, but so...clever.

Another explanation here
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1279780

[Quizmonster]

Sir Walter Scott wrote in a letter of 1791: "Still streams always run deepest." It was not until G Parton's book, 'Study in Prejudice', published in 1895, that the actual words: 'Still waters run deep' - as in the modern usage of the question - actually appeared for the earliest recorded time.

[gary baldy]

I like the contrary term to this one:
"Empty vessels make the most noise!" although if you try and quote it at the people it is intended for (morons in the cinema yakking away for example) you usually get a lot of blank looks - only reinforcing the sentiment behind it!

[logman]

I have always thought that the tern probably came from peoples that lived close to nature, like native Americans, maybe noticed shallow water running over pebbles was noisy and babbling, but the deeper, quieter waters down-stream,were smooth and placid, but there was still a lot going on under the surfice..

[spudqueen]

I used to live near one of the fastest running rivers in the country, however there was a bend which was obviously deeper than the rest of the river and the water here seemed to run much slower than the rest of the river, on observing this for the first time Mr Spudqueen said that he'd never realised before that the saying actually had a physical origin.