Not knowing keeps us humble and wisdom is birthed out of humility. When we are wise we speak with more care, behave with more caution, extend more grace, and we connect in more authentic ways with others. As it says in the Holy Bible, "Knowledge puffs up" and when we are puffed up we are unable to connect with others as well as being unable to speak and behave with care. Knowledge feeds pride, wisdom feeds humility.
There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.
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