[1] Honor doesn't go with fools any more than snow with summertime or rain with harvesttime! [2] An undeserved curse has no effect. Its intended victim will be no more harmed by it than by a sparrow or swallow flitting through the sky. [3] Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a rebel with a rod to his back! [4] When arguing with a rebel, don't use foolish arguments as he does, or you will become as foolish as he is! Prick his conceit with silly replies! [6] To trust a rebel to convey a message is as foolish as cutting off your feet and drinking poison! [7] In the mouth of a fool a proverb becomes as useless as a paralyzed leg. [8] Honoring a rebel will backfire like a stone tied to a slingshot! [9] A rebel will misapply an illustration so that its point will no more be felt than a thorn in the hand of a drunkard. [10] The master may get better work from an untrained apprentice than from a skilled rebel! [11] As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. [12] There is one thing worse than a fool, and that is a man who is conceited. [13] The lazy man won't go out and work. "There might be a lion outside!" he says. [14] He sticks to his bed like a door to its hinges! [15] He is too tired even to lift his food from his dish to his mouth! [16] Yet in his own opinion he is smarter than seven wise men. [17] Yanking a dog's ears is no more foolish than interfering in an argument that isn't any of your business. [18] A man who is caught lying to his neighbor and says, "I was just fooling," is like a madman throwing around firebrands, arrows, and death! [20] Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and tensions disappear when gossip stops. [21] A quarrelsome man starts fights as easily as a match sets fire to paper. [22] Gossip is a dainty morsel eaten with great relish. [23] Pretty words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a common clay pot. [24] A man with hate in his heart may sound pleasant enough, but don't believe him; for he is cursing you in his heart. Though he pretends to be so kind, his hatred will finally come to light for all to see. [27] The man who sets a trap for others will get caught in it himself. Roll a boulder down on someone, and it will roll back and crush you. [28] Flattery is a form of hatred and wounds cruelly.
