Proverbs 26:4-19

Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself. Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn’t get a swelled head. You’re only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool. A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle. Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column. To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk. Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot. As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness. See that man who thinks he’s so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him. Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there! Tigers are prowling the streets!” and then pull the covers back over their heads. Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed. A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth. Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty. You grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business. People who shrug off deliberate deceptions, saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,” Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.