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2.
51
O my son! a living dog is better than a dead poor man.
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2.
52
O my son! a poor man who does right is better than a rich man who is dead in sins.
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2.
53
O my son! keep a word in thy heart, and it shall be much to thee, and beware lost thou reveal the secret of thy friend.
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2.
54
O my son! let not a word issue from thy mouth till thou hast taken counsel with thy heart. And stand not betwixt persons quarrelling, because from a bad word there comes a quarrel, and from a quarrel there comes war, and from war there comes fighting, and thou wilt be forced to bear witness; but run from thence and rest thyself.
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2.
55
O my son! withstand not a man stronger than thyself, but get thee a patient spirit, and endurance and an upright conduct, for there is nothing more excellent than that.
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2.
56
O my son! hate not thy first friend, for the second one may not last.
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2.
57
O my son! visit the poor in his affliction, and speak of him in the Sultan's presence, and do thy diligence to save him from the mouth of the lion. [*203:2]
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2.
58
O my son! rejoice not in the death of thine enemy, for after a little while thou shalt be his neighbour, and him who mocks thee do thou respect and honour and be beforehand with him in greeting.
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2.
59
O my son! if water would stand still in heaven, and a black crow become white, and myrrh grow sweet as honey, then ignorant men and fools might understand and become wise.
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2.
60
O my son! if thou desire to be wise, restrain thy tongue from lying, and thy hand from stealing, and thine eyes from beholding evil; then thou wilt be called wise.
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2.
61
O my son! let the wise man beat thee with a rod, but let not the fool anoint thee with sweet salve. Be humble in thy youth and thou shalt be honoured in thine old age.
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2.
62
O my son! withstand not a man in the days of his power, nor a river in the days of its flood.
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2.
63
O my son! be not hasty in the wedding of a wife, for if it turns out well, she will say, 'My lord, make provision for me'; and if it turns out ill, she will rate at him who was the cause of it.
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2.
64
O my son! whosoever is elegant in his dress, he is the same in his speech; and he who has a mean appearance in his dress, he also is the same in his speech.
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2.
65
O my son! if thou hast committed a theft, make it known to the Sultan, and give him a share of it, that thou mayst be delivered from him, for otherwise thou wilt endure bitterness.
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2.
66
O my son! make a friend of the man whose hand is satisfied and filled, and make no friend of the man whose hand is closed and hungry.
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2.
67
There are four things in which neither the king nor his army can be secure: oppression by the vizier, and bad government, and perversion of the will, and tyranny over the subject; and four things which cannot be hidden: the prudent, and the foolish, and the rich, and the poor.'
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2.
Footnotes ^201:1 Cf. Psalms CXLI. 4.
^203:1 Cf. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
^203:2 Cf. 2 Timothy, IV, 17.
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