It's normally used to say that people who are quiet or shy are often very intelligent and interesting. But there is another meaning as explained below (per dear Wikipedia):
Still waters run deep is a proverb of Latin origin now commonly taken to mean that a placid exterior hides a passionate or subtle nature. Formerly it also carried the warning that silent people are dangerous, as in Suffolk's comment on a fellow lord in William Shakespeare's play Henry VI part 2:
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- Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,
- And in his simple show he harbours treason...
- No, no, my sovereign, Gloucester is a man
- Unsounded yet and full of deep deceit.
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According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, the first mention of the proverb appeared in Classical times in the form altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi (the deepest rivers flow with least sound) in a history of Alexander the Great by Quintus Rufus Curtius and is there claimed as being of Bactrian origin. The earliest use in English sources goes back to 1400.
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I don't need to look far to find people who are quiet but very intelligent and interesting, as there are two who live with me in my home now: my hubby and Maowi the cat. In addition to that, I did often run into and be friends with such people at work. I couldn't explain the attraction, but just felt trust and admiration towards them, and felt safe around them. Hope you also have such friends in your lives.
Picture below is Maowi the cat waiting for his "Good Friday" breakfast quietly. Happy Friday everybody!
