Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 20

¹ There is the rebuke that is untimely, and there is the man who keeps quiet, and he is the shrewd one.

² But how much better to rebuke than to fume!

³ The man who acknowledges a fault wards off punishment.

⁴ Like a eunuch longing to take a girl’s virginity so is he who uses force to argue cases.

⁵ There is the man who keeps quiet and is considered wise, another incurs hatred for talking too much.

⁶ There is the man who keeps quiet, not knowing how to answer, another keeps quiet, because he knows when to speak.

⁷ A wise man will keep quiet till the right moment, but a garrulous fool will always misjudge it.

⁸ The man who talks too much will get himself disliked, and the self-appointed oracle will make himself hated.

⁹ There is the man who finds misfortune the saving of him, and the lucky find that may turn to loss.

¹⁰ There is the gift that affords you no profit, and the gift that repays you double.

¹¹ There is the honour that leads to humiliation, and there are men in a low state who raise their heads.

¹² There is the man who buys much for little; yet pays for it seven times over.

¹³ The wise man will win love by his words, while fools may shower favours in vain.

¹⁴ A stupid man’s gift will bring you no advantage, his eyes look for seven times as much in return.

¹⁵ He gives little and reviles much, he opens his mouth like the town crier, he lends today and demands payment tomorrow; he is a detestable fellow.

¹⁶ The fool will say, ‘I have no friends, I get no gratitude for my good deeds;

¹⁷ those who eat my bread have malicious tongues’. How often he will be laughed at, and by how many!

¹⁸ Better a slip on the pavement than a slip of the tongue; this is how ruin takes the wicked by surprise.

¹⁹ A coarse-grained man is like an indiscreet story endlessly retold by the ignorant.

²⁰ A maxim is rejected when coming from a fool, since he does not utter it on the apt occasion.

²¹ Take a man who is prevented from sinning by poverty; no qualms of conscience disturb his rest.

²² Take a man who destroys himself out of false shame, destroys himself for the sake of a fool’s opinion.

²³ Take a man who, out of false shame, makes promises to a friend, and so makes an enemy for nothing.

²⁴ Lying is an ugly blot on a man, and ever on the lips of the ignorant.

²⁵ A thief is preferable to an inveterate liar, but both are heading for ruin.

²⁶ Lying is an abominable habit, so that disgrace is the liar’s for ever.

²⁷ A wise man advances himself by his words, a shrewd man will please princes.

²⁸ He who tills the soil will have a full harvest, he who pleases princes will secure pardon for his offences.

²⁹ Presents and gifts blind wise men eyes and stifle rebukes like a muzzle on the mouth.

³⁰ Wisdom concealed, and treasure undiscovered, what use is either of these?

³¹ Better a man who conceals his folly than a man who conceals his wisdom.