20:1
There is the rebuke that is untimely, and there is the person who keeps quiet, and he is the shrewd one.
20:2
But how much better to rebuke than to fume!
20:3
The person who acknowledges a fault wards off punishment.
20:4
Like a eunuch trying to take a girl's virginity is someone who tries to impose justice by force.
20:5
There is the person who keeps quiet and is considered wise, another incurs hatred for talking too much.
20:6
There is the person who keeps quiet, not knowing how to answer, another keeps quiet, knowing when to speak.
20:7
The wise will keep quiet till the right moment, but a garrulous fool will always misjudge it.
20:8
Someone who talks too much will earn dislike, and someone who usurps authority will earn hatred.
20:9
There is the person who finds misfortune a boon, and the piece of luck that turns to loss.
20:10
There is the gift that affords you no profit, and the gift that repays you double.
20:11
There is the honour that leads to humiliation, and there are people in a low state who raise their heads.
20:12
There is the person who buys much for little, yet pays for it seven times over.
20:13
The wise wins love with words, while fools may shower favours in vain.
20:14
The gift of the stupid will bring you no advantage, his eyes look for seven times as much in return.
20:15
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.
20:16
The fool will say, 'I have no friends, I get no gratitude for my good deeds;
20:17
those who eat my bread have malicious tongues.' How often he will be laughed at, and by how many!
20:18
Better a slip on the pavement than a slip of the tongue; this is how ruin takes the wicked by surprise.
20:19
A coarse-grained person is like an indiscreet story endlessly retold by the ignorant.
20:20
A maxim is rejected when coming from a fool, since the fool does not utter it on the apt occasion.
20:21
There is a person who is prevented from sinning by poverty; no qualms of conscience disturb that person's rest.
20:22
There is a person who courts destruction out of false shame, courts destruction for the sake of a fool's opinion.
20:23
There is a person who out of false shame makes promises to a friend, and so makes an enemy for nothing.
20:24
Lying is an ugly blot on anyone, and ever on the lips of the undisciplined.
20:25
A thief is preferable to an inveterate liar, but both are heading for ruin.
20:26
Lying is an abominable habit, the liar's disgrace lasts for ever.
20:27
The wise gains advancement by words, the shrewd wins favour from the great.
20:28
Whoever tills the soil will have a full harvest, whoever wins favour from the great will secure pardon for offences.
20:29
Presents and gifts blind the eyes of the wise and stifle rebukes like a muzzle on the mouth.
20:30
Wisdom concealed, and treasure undiscovered, what use is either of these?
20:31
Better one who conceals his folly than one who conceals his wisdom.
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