Read the Bible

¹ Praise for a fool is out of place, like snow in summer or rain at harvest time.

² Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light.

³ You have to whip a horse, you have to bridle a donkey, and you have to beat a fool.

⁴ If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it.

⁵ Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he's not as smart as he thinks.

⁶ If you let a fool deliver a message, you might as well cut off your own feet; you are asking for trouble.

⁷ A fool can use a proverb about as well as crippled people can use their legs.

⁸ Praising someone who is stupid makes as much sense as tying a stone in a sling.

⁹ A fool quoting a wise saying reminds you of a drunk trying to pick a thorn out of his hand.

¹⁰ An employer who hires any fool that comes along is only hurting everybody concerned.^[a]

^11 (a)A fool doing some stupid thing a second time is like a dog going back to its vomit.

¹² The most stupid fool is better off than those who think they are wise when they are not.

¹³ Why don't lazy people ever get out of the house? What are they afraid of Lions?

¹⁴ Lazy people turn over in bed. They get no farther than a door swinging on its hinges.

¹⁵ Some people are too lazy to put food in their own mouths.

¹⁶ A lazy person will think he is smarter than seven men who can give good reasons for their opinions.

¹⁷ Getting involved in an argument that is none of your business is like going down the street and grabbing a dog by the ears.^18-19 Someone who tricks someone else and then claims that he was only joking is like a crazy person playing with a deadly weapon.

²⁰ Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarreling stops.

²¹ Charcoal keeps the embers glowing, wood keeps the fire burning, and troublemakers keep arguments alive.

²² Gossip is so tasty! How we love to swallow it!

²³ Insincere^[b] talk that hides what you are really thinking is like a fine glaze^[c] on a cheap clay pot.

²⁴ A hypocrite hides hate behind flattering words. ²⁵ They may sound fine, but don't believe him, because his heart is filled to the brim with hate. ²⁶ He may disguise his hatred, but everyone will see the evil things he does.

^27 (b)People who set traps for others get caught themselves. People who start landslides get crushed.

²⁸ You have to hate someone to want to hurt him with lies. Insincere talk brings nothing but ruin.