English alternative for 'gesture for wise, stick for fool'

There is a proverb in Urdu language which translates to "gesture for wise, stick for fool". We use it to mean that a gesture is enough for a wise person, he will understand only by gesture and fool is foolish, he will understand only when he is beaten.

Is there an English alternative for this proverb?

Thanks in advance.

A word to the wise is enough: Someone who is wise heeds a warning or a piece of advice, even if it is very brief. The shorter phrase, "a word to the wise," is more common.

— TFD

A word to the wise is usually employed as a discreet warning in which the ‘word’ is very brief—either the utterance which immediately follows or this utterance itself.

A word to the wise—Paul knows. A word to the wise—

The sense is “I need say no more than a word to alert you—you’re smart enough to understand what I leave unsaid.”

— ELU (not a duplicate)