Proverbs

"No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place."

"When you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing."

"You know the sound of two hands clapping; tell me, what is the sound of one hand?"

"Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed, that is human. When you are born, where do you come from? When you die, where do you go? Life is like a floating cloud which appears. Death is like a floating cloud which disappears. The floating cloud itself originally does not exist. Life and death, coming and going, are also like that. But there is one thing which always remains clear. It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death. Then what is the one pure and clear thing?"

"Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving."

"A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin, and asked: "Is there really a paradise and a hell?" "Who are you?" inquired Hakuin. "I am a samurai," the warrior replied. "You, a soldier!" exclaimed Hakuin. "What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? Your face looks like that of a beggar." Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued: "So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably much too dull to cut off my head." As Nobushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked: "Here open the gates of hell!" At these words the samurai, perceiving the master's discipline, sheathed his sword and bowed. "Here open the gates of paradise," said Hakuin."

"A Zen master named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a pail of water to cool his bath. The student brought the water and, after cooling the bath, threw on to the ground the little that was left over. "You dunce!" the master scolded him. "Why didn't you give the rest of the water to the plants? What right have you to waste even a drop of water in this temple? The young student attained Zen in that instant. He changed his name to Tekisui, which means a drop of water."

"The Layman was sitting in his thatched cottage one day studying the sūtras. "Difficult, difficult," he said; "like trying to scatter ten measures of sesame seed all over a tree." "Easy, easy," Mrs. Pang said; "like touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed." "Neither difficult nor easy," Ling Zhao said; "on the hundred grass tips, the great Masters' meaning.""

"The Buddha is said to have given a "silent sermon" once during which he held up a flower and gazed at it. After a while, one of those present, a monk called Mahakasyapa, began to smile. He is said to have been the only one who had understood the sermon. According to legend, that smile (that is to say, realization) was handed down by twenty-eight successive masters and much later became the origin of Zen."

"All wisdom comes from the Lord and endures with him forever. The fear of the Lord is our glory and honor, it is joy and a triumphant crown. The fear of the Lord gladdens the heart; it gives joy, gaiety and long life. For the one who fears the Lord all will go well at the end of his life, and he will be blessed on the day of his death. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; he put wisdom into the hearts of his faithful ones before their birth. The fear of the Lord is the fullness of wisdom. It will fill you with its fruits. It will fill your whole house with desirable things. It will fill your houses with its riches. The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom. Wherever it is, peace and good health flourish; knowledge and prudence rain down. Wisdom exalts those who possess her. The fear of the Lord is the root of wisdom. Its branches are long life. The fear of the Lord driveth away sins: and where it is present, it turneth away wrath. Do you desire wisdom? Keep the commandments and the Lord will give her to you without measure; for fear of the Lord is wisdom and learning; what pleases him is faithfulness and gentleness. Do not put aside fear of the Lord; approach him with a sincere heart."

"My son, if you have decided to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Keep your heart upright and remain resolute; do not be upset in the time of adversity. Hold fast to the Lord, do not separate yourself from him so that you may be successful to the end of your days. Accept all that happens to you, be patient when you are humbled, for as gold is tested in the fire, so those acceptable to God are tested in the crucible of humiliation. Have confidence in him and he will take care of you; follow the right path and hope in him. You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy and do not turn away lest you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust him and you will not lose your reward. You who fear the Lord, hope for all good things; hope for eternal joy and mercy. Remember what happened to your ancestors. Who has ever trusted in the Lord and been confounded? Who has persevered in fear of the Lord and been abandoned? Who has called upon him and not been heard? For the Lord is compassion and loving-kindness; he forgives our sins and saves us in time of distress."

"Those who fear the Lord do not disobey his commandments; those who love him faithfully keep his laws. Those who fear the Lord seek to please him; those who love him are filled with his law. Those who fear the Lord keep their hearts ready and humble themselves in his presence saying, “Let us fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of mortals, for great as his power is his mercy.”"

"For the Lord established that children should respect their father; he confirmed the right of the mother over her children. Whoever honors his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself. Whoever honors his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays. Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother. He serves those who brought him to birth as he would serve the Lord. Honor your father in word and deed so that his blessing may come on you. For a father’s blessing secures the future of his children, but a mother’s curse destroys them at their roots. Do not rejoice at the humiliation of your father because his dishonor is no glory for you. For a man’s glory comes from his father’s reputation; a mother who is not respected is a disgrace to her children. My child, take care of your father in his old age, do not cause him sorrow as long as he lives. Even if he has lost his mind, have patience; do not be disrespectful to him while you are in full health. For kindness done to one’s father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins. In the day of adversity the Lord will remember it to your advantage; for just as ice melts in the heat, so will your sins melt away. The man who abandons his father is like a blasphemer; he who annoys his mother is cursed by the Lord."

"The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favor with God."

"Many are in high place, and of renown: but mysteries are revealed unto the meek. For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give him glory."

"Do not tire yourself in resolving useless questions since the knowledge you already have goes beyond human understanding. For many have been led astray by their personal theories and false pretension has undermined reason."

"As water extinguishes the burning flames, almsgiving obtains pardon for sins. The man who responds by doing good prepares for the future, at the moment of his downfall he will find support."

"My son, do not deny the poor his food and do not make the man who looks at you with pleading eyes wait. Do not sadden the hungry person nor annoy anyone who is in need. Do not exasperate an angry man nor withhold alms from the beggar. Do not drive away the beggar who is weighed down with afflictions, nor turn away your face from the poor; do not snub the needy nor give anyone a reason to curse you. If someone curses you in the bitterness of his heart, the Creator will hear his prayer."

"Deliver the oppressed from the hands of the oppressor. Do not be weak when you administer justice. Be like a father towards orphans and like a husband towards their mothers. Then you will be like a son of the Most High and he will love you more than your own mother."

"Wisdom brings up her children and takes care of those who look for her. Whoever loves her loves life. Those who rise early in the morning in search of her will be filled with joy. Whoever possesses her will have glory and wherever he goes blessings will follow. Those who serve her are ministers of the Holy One; those who love her are loved of the Lord. He who listens to her will have good judgment. He who obeys her will rest in safety. Whoever trusts in her will possess her and his children after him will inherit her. For in the beginning she will lead him by rough paths, causing him to fear and be terrified; she will plague him with her discipline until she can count on him; and she will put him to the test by her demands. Then she will lead him on a level path, give him joy and reveal her secrets to him. But if he wanders from the path, she will abandon him and allow him to be lost."

"Do not remain silent when it is necessary to speak. Do not, through pride, hide your wisdom. It is in speech that wisdom is recognized and learning in the spoken discourse."

"Fight for the truth till death and the Lord will fight for you."

"Do not be daring in your speech, but lazy and negligent in works."

"Do not rely on your wealth. Do not say, “I am self-sufficient.” Do not let yourself be carried away by greed and violence; they would make you their slave."

"Do not say, “Who can stop me?” For the Lord has power to punish you. Do not say, “I have sinned and nothing has happened!” For the Lord bides his time. Do not be so sure of pardon when you are heaping sin upon sin. Do not say, “His compassion is great! He will forgive the vast number of my sins!” For with him is mercy but also anger; his fury will be poured out on sinners."

"If you know what you are saying, answer your neighbor; if not, it is better to say nothing. Your words can bring you honor and dishonor; a man’s tongue brings about his downfall."

"Just as the wicked man inherits confusion and shame so will the sinner accustomed to lying. Do not give yourself over to your passions; they will turn against you and, like a bull, tear you to pieces. They will devour the foliage and destroy the fruit, leaving you like a dry stump. An evil passion will destroy the one who is held in its power; it will make him the laughingstock of his enemies."

"A gentle word makes many friends, an agreeable tongue calls forth gracious replies."

"Let your friends be many; but your counselors, one in a thousand!"

"The faithful friend is a secure refuge; whoever has found one has found a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond all price; hold him as priceless. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, and those who fear the Lord will find one. Whoever fears the Lord will make true friends for, as a man is, such will his friend be."

"My son, dedicate yourself to learning from your youth, and you will grow in wisdom until old age. Work at it like the worker and the sower, cultivate wisdom and wait for her excellent fruits. For in cultivating her you will have some trouble, but soon you will enjoy her fruits."

"For wisdom brings her own honor, she does not reveal herself to everyone. Listen, my son, and receive my teaching, do not reject my counsel. Put her constraints on your feet and her yoke on your neck. Put your shoulder to the burden and bear her yoke; do not rebel against her chains. Come to her with all your soul and with all your strength observe her ways. Pursue her, search for her, she will make herself known to you; when you have her, do not let her go. For, in the end, you will find in her your rest and she will become your joy."

"Meditate on the precepts of the Lord and apply yourself unceasingly to his commandments. He will strengthen your heart and the wisdom you desire will be given to you."

"Do no evil and evil will not take hold of you. Keep away from wrongdoing and it will leave you alone."

"Do not seek a position of responsibility lest you not be powerful enough to root out injustice and, overawed by a powerful man, you lose your integrity."

"Do not despise a man when he is downcast, for there is one who casts down and who raises up."

"Do not join the company of sinners, remember that the wrath of God will not be delayed."

"Remain humble, because the godless are punished with fire and worms."

"Do not separate yourself from a wise and good woman, because a gracious wife is worth more than gold."

"Have you children? Educate them and teach them to obey from their childhood. Have you any daughters? Guard their virginity and do not be indulgent towards them. If you marry off your daughter you will have accomplished something of importance, but give her to an intelligent man."

"Honor your father with your whole heart and do not be forgetful of the sufferings of your mother. Remember that they gave you birth. How can you repay them for what they have done for you?"

"Stretch out your hand to the poor and you will receive a blessing from the Lord. May your gifts benefit the living and do not forget the dead. Do not turn away from those who weep, and grieve with those who are in sorrow. Do not neglect to visit the sick because it is for such acts that you will be loved."

"In all your actions remember your last end and you will never sin."

"Do not offend the man who repents of his sins, remember that we are all deserving punishment."

"Do not despise a man in his old age, because we ourselves will grow old. Do not rejoice at the death of any man, remember that we shall all die. Do not neglect the teaching of the wise, apply yourself well to their precepts. Through them you will learn how to live and how to serve the great. Do not set aside the teachings of the elders for they also learnt it from their forebears; they will open up your understanding and enable you to reply at the right moment."

"Do not be jealous of your own wife; do not give her reason to disgrace you. Do not put yourself into the power of any woman to the point where she can dominate you. Do not go near a woman of ill-repute for fear of falling into her nets. Do not dally with a singing girl for fear of being caught in her snare. Do not fix your gaze on a young girl for fear of being involved in her condemnation. Do not deliver yourself into the power of prostitutes lest you lose your inheritance. Do not glance about you in the streets of the town; do not loiter in lonely places."

"Turn your eyes away from a good-looking woman and do not stare at a beautiful foreigner. For the beauty of a woman has caused many to fall; in her presence love blazes up like a fire."

"Never sit near a married woman or drink wine with her, for fear that your feelings towards her be roused and that in your passion you slide towards your downfall."

"Do not abandon an old friend, for a new one has not the same value."

"Do not envy the success of the sinner, you do not know what his end will be. Do not take pleasure in what pleases the godless, remember that they will be punished before they die."

"Love to speak with intelligent men and let all your discourses be about the law of the Most High. Let just men be your companions at table; take pride in your fear of the Lord."

"A king without wisdom will ruin his people; a city will prosper through the wisdom of its rulers. The government of the earth is in the hands of the Lord; in his own time he will raise up the right leader. Human success is in the hands of the Lord and he clothes the rulers with his glory."

"Pride is odious to both God and man; injustice is abhorrent to both of them."

"Sovereignty passes from one nation to another because of injustice, violence and wealth."

"How can there be such pride in someone who is nothing but dust and ashes? Even while he is living, man’s bowels are full of rottenness."

"The illness lasts while the doctor makes light of it; and one who is king today will die tomorrow."

"The Lord has overturned the thrones of princes and set up the meek in their place. The Lord has torn up the proud by the roots and has planted the humble in their place. The Lord has overturned the land of the pagans and totally destroyed them. He has devastated several of them, destroyed them and removed all remembrance of them from the face of the earth."

"Which race is worthy of honor? The human race. Which race is worthy of honor? Those who fear the Lord. Which race is despicable? The human race. Which race is despicable? Those who break the commandments."

"The leader is worthy of respect in the midst of his brethren, but he has respect for those who fear the Lord. Whether they be rich, honored or poor, their pride should be in fearing the Lord."

"It is not right to despise the poor man who keeps the law; it is not fitting to honor the sinful man."

"The leader, the judge, and the powerful man are worthy of honor, but no one is greater than the man who fears the Lord."

"Do not be proud because of the clothes you wear; do not be proud when people honor you. Do you know what the Lord is preparing in a mysterious way? Many tyrants have been overthrown and someone unknown has received the crown. Many powerful men have been completely disgraced and famous men handed over into the power of others."

"Do not reprehend anyone unless you have first been fully informed, consider the case first and thereafter make your reproach. Do not reply before you have listened; do not interrupt the one who is speaking. Do not interfere in what is not your business; do not meddle in the disputes of sinners."

"Good and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, all come from the Lord."

"The just can count on the generosity of the Lord and his goodness will guide them forever. A man may become rich through being careful and miserly and this is his reward. The day on which he thinks, “I have earned my rest, now I can live on my possessions,” he does not know how long he is going to live. He will have to die and leave his goods to others."

"Do not be disconcerted at the success of sinners but have confidence in God and persevere in your own efforts. It is easy for the Lord in an instant to make the poor man rich."

"Do not say, “What do I need? What more could I have or desire?” Do not say, “I have all that is necessary, what misfortune can harm me now?” On good days, one forgets the bad; and on bad days one forgets the good. Even when the end draws near, it is easy for the Lord to reward a man according to the way he has lived. The hour of adversity makes one forget pleasure; at the end of a man’s life his deeds will be revealed."

"Do good to the godly man and you will receive a reward, if not from the man himself, at least from the Most High."

"Give to the godly man, do not help the sinner; do good to the humble, do not give to the ungodly; deny him bread, do not give it to him lest he eventually dominate you. He will repay you with a double evil for all the good that you have done for him. For the Most High himself detests sinners and carries out his vengeance on the ungodly. Give to the good man but do not help the sinner."

"A friend does not become an enemy in the time of prosperity, nor does an enemy remain hidden in the time of adversity. When a man is doing well, his enemies are sad; when he is suffering misfortune, even his friends hasten to abandon him."

"Who will have pity on the snakecharmer bitten by a snake or on those who go near wild beasts? It is the same for the man who joins company with a sinner and finds himself involved in his wrongdoing. The sinner will remain quietly with you for an hour but when you are distracted he will throw away his mask."

"He who touches tar will be soiled; he who associates with an arrogant man will become like him. Do not carry too heavy a load; do not make friends with someone stronger and richer than you. Why put the earthen pot near the iron one? One will bang the other and break it. The rich man does wrong and is unconcerned; the poor man is insulted and apologizes. The rich man uses you as long as you are useful to him; when you have nothing left he deserts you. He will stay with you as long as you have something; he will drain you without a second thought."

"The proud man hates humility; so, also, the poor man is detestable to the rich. When the rich man stumbles, his friends support him, but when the poor man falls, his friends desert him. When the rich man gets into trouble, there are many who come to his rescue; if he speaks nonsense, they congratulate him. When the poor man makes a mistake, they criticize him; if he speaks sensibly, they pay no attention. When the rich man speaks, all are silent and they praise his words to the skies. The poor man speaks and people ask, “Who is this?” And if he stumbles, they push him down."

"Wealth is good if there is no sin in it and poverty is evil when it is the reward for godlessness."

"Happy the one who has not sinned in speech or who feels no remorse for his faults. Happy is he whose own conscience does not condemn him and who has not fallen from his ideals."

"My son, use well whatever you have and give worthy offerings to the Lord. Remember that death will not delay and your time has not yet been revealed to you."

"All living things grow old like clothing. This is the eternal law: “You will die.” Like green leaves on a bushy tree: some sprout and others fall off, so are the generations of flesh and blood: one dies and another is born. All finite things pass away and their maker with them."

"Such is the one who fears the Lord, embraces the Law will obtain wisdom. She will come out to meet him like a mother and greet him like a virgin bride; she will feed him with the bread of understanding and give him the water of wisdom to drink. He will rely on her and will not waver; he will lean on her and will not be let down. Wisdom will make him greater than his friends and he will be able to speak in the full assembly. He will be crowned with happiness and joy. He will inherit an everlasting name."

"Do not say, “It was God who made me sin.” God does not cause what he hates. Do not say, “He made me do wrong,” for he has nothing to do with a sinner. The Lord hates all evil and those who fear him hate it as well."

"When he created man in the beginning, he left him free to make his own decisions. If you wish, you can keep the commandments and it is in your power to remain faithful. He has set fire and water before you; you stretch out your hand to whichever you prefer. Life and death are set before man: whichever a man prefers will be given him."

"How magnificent is the wisdom of the Lord! He is powerful and all-seeing. His eyes are on those who fear him. He knows all the works of man. He has commanded no one to be godless and has given no one permission to sin."

"Do not long for a brood of worthless children, and take no joy in godless sons. However many you have, do not rejoice in them if they have no fear of God. Do not depend on their having a long life, or trust in their number, because one is better than a thousand and their death is preferable to their being godless."

"A city can arise from one man who is prudent. Yet, even though the wicked become a great tribe, they will be destroyed. I have seen such things with my own eyes and my ears have heard of still greater things. Fire has come upon the meeting of sinners and God’s wrath is kindled against rebellious people. God did not pardon the leaders of old who rebelled in their pride of strength. He did not spare the city where Lot lived; he detested their pride. He showed no pity on the people doomed to destruction; they were annihilated for their sins."

"In the same way, he dealt with the six hundred thousand men who, in the hardness of their hearts, had revolted. Had there been only one stubborn man it would have been amazing if he had escaped unpunished, since mercy and anger belong to the Lord who is powerful both in forgiveness and in punishment. His justice is as great as his mercy and he judges people by their deeds."

"Just as the sinner will not escape with his booty, the patience of the upright man will not go unrewarded. God will reward every act of mercy; each person will be treated according to his deeds."

"Do not say, “I will hide from the Lord; who will remember me up there? I will not be recognized in the midst of so many. What am I in the immensity of creation?” Look: the sky and the heavens above the sky, the sea and the earth tremble when he comes. The mountains, together with the foundations of the earth, are filled with dread before his sight. But nobody thinks of such things: who is interested in the ways of God? Most of his works go unnoticed and man does not see where the storm originates."

"The Lord created man from the earth and let him return to earth. He settled a fixed time for them and a set number of days, giving them power over everything on earth. He endowed them with a strength like his own, making them in his own image. He put the fear of them in all living things, thus they had mastery over the animals and birds. He endowed them with knowledge; he gave them tongue and eyes, ears and a mind to think with. He filled them with wisdom and knowledge; he taught them good and evil. He put his own eye in their hearts so they would understand the greatness of his works. They will praise his holy Name and relate the magnificence of his creation. He gave them revealed knowledge as well and handed over to them the Law of life. He established an everlasting covenant with them and let them know his judgments. Human eyes saw the splendor of the Glory of God; their ears heard the grandeur of his voice. He said to them, “Keep yourselves from all wrongdoing,” and to each of them he gave commands regarding his neighbor. Their conduct is always before the Lord; they cannot escape his sight. He has placed a leader over each nation, but Israel is the Lord’s own portion. Their deeds are as clear as the sun to him, he always observes their ways. Their misdeeds cannot be hidden from him, all their sins are before the Lord."

"He holds a man’s almsgiving dear as a priceless signet ring; he cherishes a good deed like the apple of his eye. One day he will rise and reward them; he will place their prize on their heads."

"He allows those who repent to return; he comforts those whose hopes are fading. Be converted to the Lord and give up your sins, plead with him to lessen your offense. Return to the Almighty, turn aside from wrongdoing and totally detest evil. For who in the grave will praise the Almighty, if the living do not give him glory? The dead man is as if he did not exist and cannot give praise; he who has life and health can praise the Lord. How great is the mercy of the Lord and his forgiveness for those who turn to him!"

"What is brighter than the sun? Yet it disappears. Man is no more than flesh and blood, yet he thinks of doing evil. While the sun surveys the stars in the lofty sky, human beings remain dust and ashes."

"What is man? What is his purpose? What is the good in him and what the bad? Take the length of his life: a hundred years is long. Like a drop of water from the sea, a grain of sand, such are his few years compared with eternity. For this reason, the Lord has patience with them and pours out his mercy on them. He sees and realizes how miserable their end is and so he heaps his forgiveness upon them. Man’s mercy is for his neighbor but the compassion of the Lord reaches all people; he rebukes, corrects, teaches and brings back his flock like a shepherd. He takes pity on those who accept correction and eagerly seek his will."

"Find out the facts before you speak; look after yourself before you become ill."

"Let nothing prevent you from fulfilling your vow on time; do not wait until death to put things in order."

"Prepare yourself before praying and do not be one of those who tempt the Lord. Keep in mind the justice of the last days; God will turn his face from you on the day of vengeance."

"When you experience abundance, remember the days of famine; when you enjoy riches, think of poverty and misery. Time slips by between morning and evening, all things pass quickly before the Lord."

"The prudent man is cautious in everything; when sin abounds he will keep away from wrongdoing. Every sensible man recognizes wisdom and respects those who obtain her. Those who speak sensibly are wise, and marvelous sayings flow from them."

"Do not let your passions rule you and restrain your desires. If you satisfy your lusts you will make yourself the laughingstock of your enemies."

"Do not take pleasure in great luxury, lest you become impoverished by its expense. Do not impoverish yourself by feasting on credit when you have nothing in your pocket."

"Wine and women corrupt the best of men; whoever frequents prostitutes loses all sense of shame."

"One who revels in pleasure will be condemned, hating gossip will save one from evil. Never repeat what you are told and you will come to no harm. Report nothing to friend or foe and, unless silence is sinful, reveal it to no one. They will listen, distrust you and you will end up being hated. Have you heard something? Let it die with you, remain calm; you will not burst with it. A fool suffers like a woman in childbirth over something he is told. Like an arrow stuck in his thigh, such is a secret inside a fool."

"Speak with your friend: perhaps he has done nothing and, if he has, he will not do it again. Speak with your friend: perhaps he has not said anything and, if he has, he will not say it again. Speak with your friend for there is much slander; do not believe all that you hear. Often, unintentional slips are made; for who has never sinned by evil tongues?"

"Speak with your neighbor before you heap accusations on him; then leave room for the Law of the Almighty."

"All wisdom is in the fear of the Lord; in all wisdom is the fulfillment of the Law. Knowledge of evil is not wisdom, and prudence is not found in the advice of sinners. There is a cleverness that is loathsome; it belongs to the evildoer who lacks wisdom. Better to lack sense and be full of the fear of the Lord, than to be clever in violating the Law."

"A man’s way of dressing reveals who he is, as does his manner of laughing and walking."

"One keeps silent and is thought to be wise, the other makes himself hated because of his gossiping. One remains silent because he does not know how to reply; the other keeps quiet, waiting for the right moment. The wise man keeps silent until the right moment; the chatterer and fool speak out of turn."

"Better to stumble on the ground than to make a slip with the tongue; this is how easily the wicked fall."

"Lying is a shameful defect in a man; fools are used to it. Better to be a thief than a liar, yet both are heading for disaster. Habitual lying is detestable; disgrace never leaves the liar."

"Presents and gifts blind a wise man’s eyes; like a muzzle they silence the conscientious."

"Concealed wisdom and hidden treasure: what good are these? The man who conceals his stupidity is better than one who conceals his wisdom."

"Have you sinned, my son? Do not do it again and beg forgiveness for your past sins. Escape from sin as you would from a snake; if you go near, it will bite you. Its teeth are like those of a lion and destroy human lives."

"Whoever hates correction goes the way of sinners; he who fears the Lord turns to him in his heart."

"The meeting of sinners is like a pile of rope which will go up in fire and flames. The path of sinners is well paved but it ends in the fiery abyss."

"He who keeps the Law is in control of his thoughts; the fear of the Lord brings wisdom."

"The man who is not clever will never be taught; but there is a cleverness which leads to bitterness. The wise man’s knowledge spreads out like a flood and his advice is like a spring."

"If an educated man hears a wise saying he values it and adds another. If the good-for nothing hears it he is annoyed and tosses it over his shoulder."

"Listening outside doors reveals a bad upbringing, the upright man would be ashamed of doing so."

"Strangers speak thoughtlessly of everything, while wise men’s words are carefully weighed. The heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in their heart."

"When the godless man curses his opponent, the curse descends on himself. The slanderer taints himself and makes himself hated by all around him."

"Weep for the dead man since the light has deserted him, weep for the fool because understanding has deserted him. Cry less for the dead man; he has found his rest but the fool’s life is worse than death."

"Mourning the dead lasts seven days, but it lasts a lifetime for the fool and godless man."

"Win your neighbor’s confidence when he is poor so that you may enjoy his goods with him when he grows rich; be loyal in his hour of trouble and you will win, in the end, a share in his inheritance."

"Children, learn how to control your language; if you are able to watch over it, you will not be taken by surprise."

"The sinner will be caught in his own words, as happens to the proud man and to him who curses."

"Remember your father and mother when you are sitting in the company of the great, lest you forget yourself in their presence and act like a fool. Then you would wish you had never been born, and curse the day of your birth."

"Those who obey me will not be put to shame; those who serve me will not fall into sin. All this is in the Bible, the Testament of the Most High God, the book of the Law which Moses entrusted to us, the inheritance of the congregations of Israel. This Law feeds the springs of wisdom, like the Pishon or Tigris in the season of fruit. Waters overflowing with understanding come from it, as from the Euphrates and Jordan at harvest time; the floods of instruction run like the Nile or the Gihon in time of vintage."

"Three things delight me and are delightful to God and people: agreement between brothers, friendship between neighbors, and perfect harmony between husband and wife."

"There are three kinds of persons whom I detest and whose existence I cast away from me: a poor man full of pride, a rich man who is a liar, and an adulterous old man who is a fool."

"I think of nine things which I consider happy and a tenth to which I will also refer: the man who finds his happiness in his children; the man who sees the ruin of his enemies in his lifetime. Happy the man who lives with a sensible wife; he who does not plow with a donkey and ox; he who has done no wrong in speech; he who does not serve an unworthy master. Happy he who has acquired good sense and is able to speak before an attentive audience!"

"Great is he who has gained wisdom, but no one surpasses the man who fears the Lord. Since the fear of the Lord excels everything, who can compare with the one who possesses it?"

"Better to live with a lion and a snake than to share a house with a wicked woman. Wickedness disfigures a woman’s appearance, it saddens the face, making her look like a bear. When her husband dines with his neighbor, he sighs bitterly, in spite of himself. All wickedness is nothing compared with a woman’s wickedness. Let her lot be that of a sinner! As a sandhill is to an old man’s feet, so is the talkative woman to her quiet husband. Do not be fooled by a woman’s beauty or fall in love with her. Expect anger, reproach and plenty of shame when the wife rules the husband. Dejected spirits, a sad face and unseen wounds, these are the work of a wicked woman. Idle hands and unsteady knees are found when a wife brings her husband no happiness. For sin began with woman and we all die because of the inheritance of the congregations of Israel. Do not let water leak out or give free rein to a wicked woman. If she does not do as you tell her, get rid of her."

"Happy the husband of a good wife, the number of his days will be doubled. A woman of character is her husband’s joy, he will live in peace all the years of his life. A good wife is the best of gifts, reserved for those who fear the Lord; rich or poor, he will have a serene heart and a happy face."

"Guard against the provocative woman and do not be surprised if she wishes to drag you into disgrace. She opens her mouth like a thirsty traveler to drink any water coming her way; she sits by any pole and opens her quiver to every arrow."

"A wife’s grace gladdens her husband and her prudence refreshes his body. A wife who knows how to be silent is a gift from the Lord; the well-trained wife is invaluable. A modest wife is a favor among favors; the chaste wife is priceless. Like the sun rising over the mountains of the Lord, such is the enchantment of a good wife in a well-kept house. Like the light which shines from the sacred lampstand, such is a beautiful face in a well-shaped body. Like pillars of gold on a silver base, such are beautiful legs on sturdy feet."

"Many sin for love of gain, he who desires riches silences his conscience. Just as the stake is settled between two stones, so sin wedges itself between buying and selling. The house of him who does not keep himself firmly in the fear of the Lord will soon be knocked to the ground."

"The wise man’s conversation follows wisdom all the time. In contrast, the fool changes like the moon. When among fools, be sparing with your time; among thoughtful people, be lavish with it."

"He who betrays a secret is no longer trusted; he will no longer find reliable friends. Love your friend and be loyal; if you have revealed his secrets, go with him no longer. It is like having lost some of your relatives: his friendship to you has died. Like a bird, you have let your friend go, you will not get him back. When you open your hand, the bird flies off; do not pursue him: he is far away and has fled like a gazelle from the snare. For a wound can be bandaged and an insult forgiven, but if you betray a secret there is no hope."

"He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it."

"If you do evil, evil will befall you and you will not know from where it comes. The proud man makes use of mockery and insults, but vengeance lies in wait for him like a lion."

"Those who gloat over the downfall of good men will fall into the snare; suffering will consume them before they die."

"Grudge and wrath, these also are abominations in which sinful people excel."

"Cursed be the gossiper with his spiteful tongue. He has destroyed many who lived peacefully. The vicious tongue has demolished many and hounded them from nation to nation. It has ruined powerful cities and laid low great households. The vicious tongue has cast out wives who were beyond reproach, depriving them of the fruit of their work. Whoever listens to it will never find rest or be able to live in peace. The whip leaves a mark but the lash of the tongue shatters bones. Many have been felled by the sword but many more have perished by the tongue. Happy he who has escaped it and has not been exposed to its fury, who has not been weighed down by its yoke or been tied up in its chains."

"Lending to your neighbor is an act of mercy, going to his aid fulfills the commandments. Learn to lend to your neighbor when he is in need and, in turn, repay him any loan on time."

"Keep your word, remain faithful and you will find what you need on every occasion."

"Many a good person refuses to lend, not for any malicious reason: he is afraid of being cheated without cause. Nevertheless, be kind to those who have fallen on hard times, do not keep them waiting for your help. For the commandments’ sake, help the poor man; see his need and do not turn him away empty-handed."

"Better to spend your money on a brother or friend than to let it rust under a stone, to your discredit."

"Use your money according to the commandments of the Most High and you will find it more valuable than gold. Fill your barns with good deeds and these will rescue you from misfortune. They will fight for you against your enemy better than any strong shield and mighty spear."

"Some things you cannot live without: water, bread, clothes and a house for shelter. Better a poor man’s life in his wooden shack than lavish banquets in another man’s house. Be content with whatever you have, be it great or small; this is better than to go elsewhere and be reproached as an outsider."

"The man who loves his son makes use of the rod; later on he will be proud of him. The man who corrects his son will reap the benefit and be proud of him among his acquaintances. By instructing his son he makes his enemy envious; he will be well pleased with him in the company of his friends. If such a father dies it is as if he had not died, for he leaves behind him another man like himself. In life he had the joy of his company and he is not sorrowful when death comes. He leaves it to his family to take revenge on his enemies and to return gifts to his friends."

"The man who coddles his son will be constantly bandaging his wounds; at his every cry he will be troubled. Just as a badly broken-in horse cannot be mounted, so a spoiled son becomes insolent. Pamper your child and later he will terrify you; play with him and he will bring you sorrow. Do not laugh at him lest you have to suffer and grind your teeth. Do not let him be independent as a child, but rather bruise his ribs while he is still young, lest he grow stubborn and refuse to obey. Be strict with your son and persevere in this, so as not to suffer because of his misconduct."

"Better a poor man healthy and fit, than a rich man tormented in body. Health and vigor are worth more than gold, a robust body, more than great wealth. No riches are preferable to physical wellbeing, and no joy is greater than a cheerful heart."

"Jealousy and anger shorten your life; worry makes you old before the time."

"He who loves gold cannot be righteous; whoever runs after gain will be led astray. Many have been ruined because of gold; disgrace went to meet them. Gold is a snare for those who are possessed by love of it. The senseless will be caught in it."

"Happy is the rich man who has not sinned in this way and has not gone after gold! Who is he? Let us say: Fortunate man! For he has given a wonderful example. Who has been tested in this and found perfect? He has reason to be proud. Who could have sinned but resisted, who could have done wrong and did not do it? His fortune is firmly established and the assembly will acknowledge his generosity."

"Are you seated at a lavish banquet? Don’t be over-ready to eat and don’t say, “What a feast!” Remember that a greedy eye is an evil thing. What is worse than such an eye? That is why it was condemned to weep. Do not stretch out your hand to everything you see or be quick in reaching for a dish. Judge the needs of your fellow guest by your own and in all things act prudently. Eat what is set before you like an educated person and don’t be a glutton, lest you be detested. Like a well-mannered man, be the first to stop; don’t be voracious if you are to avoid difficulties. If important people are present, do not be the first to serve yourself. A little is sufficient for a well-bred person; your breathing moreover will be easier when you go to bed. Healthy sleeping is for the moderate eater. He rises early and feels fit! Sleeplessness and stomach trouble attend the overindulgent. If you are obliged to eat too much, go off and vomit and you will be at ease. Listen to me, my friend, and do not neglect what I say; in the end you will see the truth of it. Be moderate in all that you do and you will be without illness."

"Do not try to show how much wine you can take, for wine has been the ruin of many. As the furnace tests the temper of steel, so wine proves hearts and makes proud men quarrel. Wine is life for man if taken in moderation. What is life without wine? Wine makes for a glad heart and a cheerful mind, if taken moderately and at the right time. But if taken to excess it brings bitterness of soul, excitement and a fumbling step. Drunkenness inflames the anger of a stupid person to the point of scandal. It reduces his strength and brings him blows. Do not reproach a neighbor during a wine feast, and don’t look down on him when he is merry; do not speak harshly to him or annoy him by asking him to settle a debt."

"Whoever fears the Lord will accept his correction, and those who rise at dawn will win his favor. The man who follows his Law will be nourished by it, but the hypocrite will find it a stumbling block. Those who fear the Lord will please him and their good deeds will shine as a light."

"The sinner refuses correction and excuses himself for doing what he wants."

"A person of judgment reflects beforehand; the stubborn and proud man goes ahead without worrying about anything. Never act without first reflecting, and you will have no regrets."

"Be careful in whatever you do. In so doing you keep the commandments. Those who trust in the Law will keep the commandments and those who obey the Lord will come to no harm."

"Evil will not go to meet the one who fears the Lord; if he is in danger he will be rescued. The wise man never departs from the Law; he who only pretends to keep it is like a storm-tossed boat. An intelligent man has faith in the Law, which for him is as trustworthy as an oracle."

"If you want people to listen to you, prepare what you have to say; recall what you have learned before you give an answer."

"Why is one day holier than another, when the light of the sun shines on every day of the year? By the Lord’s decision they were made different; he arranged the different seasons and feasts. Some of these he chose to make holy, others he made ordinary days. All human beings come from clay just as Adam himself was formed. In the fullness of his wisdom the Lord made each one unique and diversified his conditions. Some he made holy, keeping them near to himself. Others he cursed and humiliated, removing them from where they were. As clay in the hand of the potter to be molded as he pleases, so are all in the hands of the Creator to be dealt with as he sees fit."

"The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, for their hope is placed in the One who saves. He who fears the Lord is in dread of nothing. He will not be cowardly for he is his hope. He who fears the Lord is a happy person. To whom does he turn? Who is his support? The eyes of the Lord are on those who love him. For them he is powerful protection, strong support, shelter against scorching wind and the midday sun. He is a safeguard against stumbling and assurance against a fall. He lifts up the soul and gives a sparkle to the eyes; he gives healing, life and blessing."

"Offering to God from what belongs to the poor is like slaughtering a son in the presence of his father."

"Bread is life to the poor; he who takes it from them is a murderer."

"He who deprives others of a livelihood kills them, and whoever withdraws the salary of a worker is guilty of blood. If one builds and the other destroys, what do they gain besides trouble? If one prays and the other curses, whose voice will the Master listen to?"

"If a man is cleansed after touching a corpse and then touches it again, what good was there in his cleansing? If anyone fasts for his sins and then commits the same sins, who will hear his prayer? What value is there in his fasting?"

"Keeping the Law is worth many offerings. Being faithful to the commandments is like a peace offering. Returning kindness is an offering of fine flour; giving alms is a sacrifice of praise. Renouncing sin pleases the Lord, and shunning injustice is a sacrifice of atonement."

"Give to the Most High as he has given to you; give generously to the Lord according to what you have; the Lord will repay, he will reward you sevenfold."

"The Lord is judge and shows no partiality. He will not disadvantage the poor, he who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow. When tears flow down her cheeks, is she not crying out against the one who caused her to weep?"

"The one who serves God wholeheartedly will be heard; his petition will reach the clouds. The prayer of the humble person pierces the clouds, and he is not consoled until he has been heard. His prayer will not cease until the Most High has looked down, until justice has been done in favor of the righteous."

"A woman will accept any husband but some daughters are better than others. Woman’s beauty rejoices people and is beyond all that could be wished for. If she is kindly-spoken and gentle he is the most fortunate of men. When a man marries he acquires a fortune, someone who understands him and who will help and support him. When there is no hedge the property will be destroyed; and when a man has no wife he is a fretful wanderer. Who would trust a clever robber flitting from town to town? And who would trust a man without a nest, who lodges wherever nightfall finds him?"

"Every friend says, “I am your friend, too,” but some friends are only friends in name. Is it not a deadly grief when a companion or friend turns into an enemy? O evil intention! From where have you sprung, to cover the earth with deceit? One kind of comrade takes advantage of his friend’s good fortune; in time of trouble he turns against him. Another kind shares his friend’s suffering, for the sake of a meal; when it comes to a fight, he thinks only of saving himself. Do not neglect a friend or forget him once you are wealthy."

"Do not seek advice from one who looks at you suspiciously; hide your plans from those who envy you."

"Do not consult a woman about her rival, or a coward about war, or a merchant about exchange rates, or a buyer about selling, or a jealous man about gratitude, or a selfish person about generosity, or an idler about any kind of work, or a casual worker about finishing a job, or a lazy servant about an important task. Do not rely on these people for any advice."

"In the end, keep to your own heart’s advice, since no one deserves to be trusted more than your heart. For a man’s soul often gives better advice than seven watchmen placed on a height. Besides all this, implore the Almighty to guide your steps in the truth. A plan must be at the beginning of all work; reflection comes before every action. When you decide, four ways are open before you: good, evil, life and death. Your own decision makes the choice."

"The truly wise man teaches his people, and they benefit by his knowledge. The wise man is full of blessings; those who see him call him happy."

"My son, test yourself during the course of your life; see what is harmful and avoid it. For everything does not suit everybody, nor is everyone satisfied with all things. Do not be insatiable in every pleasure, or be excessive in what you eat; for overeating leads to sickness and gluttony brings indigestion. Many have died because of gluttony; he who takes care prolongs his life."

"A law student acquires wisdom during his leisure hours; free from business he is capable of becoming wise. How can the man who guides a plow become wise, he whose pride lies in snapping a whip and driving a bullock, who works continually and talks of nothing but cattle? His heart is set on plowing furrows and all his attention is given to fattening heifers."

"Quite different is it with the person who spends his life reflecting on the Law of the Most High. He examines the wisdom of the sages in times past and in his free time he studies prophecies. He keeps in mind what people of renown have said and penetrates the mystery of parables. He searches for the inner meaning of proverbs and is interested in the secret of parables. He is at the service of the great and is seen in the company of leaders. He travels in foreign lands and has experience of both the good and the evil in mankind. Early in the morning his heart is set on turning to the Lord, his Maker, and raising his being to the Most High. He opens his mouth in prayer and makes supplication because of his sins. If such is the will of the great Lord he will be filled with the spirit of discernment. He will then speak words of wisdom and celebrate the Lord in prayer. He will acquire just judgment and knowledge and reflect on the Lord’s hidden mysteries."

"How magnificent are the works of the Lord! All his commands are appropriately timed and satisfy every need. No one should say: “What is this? Why is that?” All must be studied in its time. At his word the waters ceased to flow and piled up, his voice caused the reservoir of water to open; at his order his every wish is fulfilled, and no one hinders his work of salvation. The deeds of all are before him, nothing is hidden from his eyes; he sees all from eternity to eternity and nothing surprises him."

"No one must say: “What is that? Why is it so?” for everything is created for a purpose."

"For that reason I reflected and from the beginning I decided to write: All the works of the Lord are good and he will satisfy every need in due time. You must not say: This is less good than that, for in its time everything will serve a purpose. So now, with all your heart and in full voice, sing and bless the Name of the Lord."

"Painful is the lot of all humans, a heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam from the day they leave their mother’s womb to the day they return to the mother of us all. What is on their mind, what they fear in their heart, is the day of their death. From the king, glorious on his throne, robed in purple and wearing a crown, to the lowliest person sitting in dust and ashes and covered with sackcloth, there is anger, envy, trouble and unrest, fear of death, rivalry and quarrels."

"Everything that comes from the earth goes back to the earth, and what comes from the waters returns to the sea."

"All bribery, all injustice will disappear but good faith will last forever."

"The unjust riches will vanish like a stream that dries up; they will crash like a clap of thunder during a downpour. A generous man has reason to rejoice, whereas sinners go to their ruin."

"The name of a man who has children or who has established a town will live on, but to have found wisdom is a greater good. Owning cattle and plantations brings fame, but a perfect wife is a richer blessing."

"It is always good for friends and companions to meet, better still for husband and wife."

"Brothers and protectors are useful in hard times, but it will be of greater help to have been a giver of alms."

"Gold and silver make for security but good advice is better. Wealth and strength give confidence, but good counsel is more esteemed than either. You cannot suffer loss when you fear the Lord, with it you have all the support you need. The fear of the Lord is like a garden of blessings; it clothes a person better than any glory."

"Death! What a bitter thought for someone who lives happily among his possessions, a prosperous and successful man who is still able to enjoy his food! Your sentence, Death, is welcome to a needy person whose strength is failing, who is old, worn out, and full of worries; to one who is angry and without hope! Do not be afraid of Death’s sentence; think of those who have gone before you and those who will follow. The Lord has decreed it for every living creature; why should you rebel against the good pleasure of the Most High? Whether you live for ten, a hundred or a thousand years, no one in the netherworld is concerned."

"Abominable people, such are the children of sinners who gather in the houses of the ungodly. The inheritance of sinners will perish; their prosperity will be a lasting reproach. An ungodly father will be insulted by his children, for they hold him responsible for their disgrace."

"Woe to you, wicked people who have forsaken the law of the Most High! At birth you are born to be cursed and you will be cursed at death. All that comes from the earth returns to the earth, and the ungodly go from curse to ruin."

"Have regard for your reputation, for it will live on, of greater value than a thousand hoards of gold. Few perhaps are the days of the just man’s life but an honored name endures forever."

"My children, keep my teaching and live in peace. Of what use is hidden wisdom and unseen treasure? It is better for a man to hide his foolishness than to hide his wisdom."

"Therefore, feel shame according to what I say. It is not always fitting to feel shame, but this is not understood by everyone. Be ashamed of licentiousness before your father and mother, and of a lie before a ruler or an important person. Be ashamed of criminal behavior before a judge, and of iniquity before an assembly of people. Feel ashamed of dishonesty before your partner or friend, and of a theft in the place where you live. Be ashamed before the truth of God and his covenant. Be ashamed of keeping the loaves for yourself, of being unable to give and to receive, of not returning a greeting, of staring at a prostitute, of rejecting a compatriot, of depriving someone of what is his, of gazing at another man’s wife, of being too familiar with your maidservant– keep away from her bed! of insulting words to a friend – do not follow up a gift with a reproach! of repeating what you have heard and betraying secrets. On these occasions feel genuine shame and you will be respected by all."

"Do not be ashamed of correcting someone who is foolish or stupid or an old man who has become childish. Doing that, you prove that you are a well-educated person and you will be generally respected."

"Do not be taken by human beauty and do not sit down in the company of women; for just as a moth comes out of a garment, woman’s wickedness comes out of a woman. Better a man’s wickedness than a woman’s kindness; women bring shame and disgrace."

"He penetrates both the depth of the abyss and the human heart and knows their secrets. For the Most High has full knowledge and ordains the signs of the heavens. He knows the past and foretells the future and reveals the traces of the world’s mysteries. No thought escapes him, no word is hidden from him."

"Thanks be to God, all turns out well and everything is held together by his word. We shall not give further examples; one last word: He is everything. Where shall we find the strength to glorify him? For he is the Mighty One, greater than all his works. The Lord is awesome and sovereignly great, and admirable in his power. Let your praise exalt the Lord as best you can, he is greater than you could even express. Honor him with all your strength and do not tire, for you can never praise him enough. Who has seen him and can describe what he has seen? Who can glorify him as he merits? Many mysteries greater than these still remain, for we have only seen a fraction of his works."

"The Lord has created all things and to the godly he has given wisdom."

"But now consider the godly men whose good deeds have not been forgotten. Those who came after them benefited from the rich legacy they left; their race remained faithful to the Covenant, their children followed their example. Their family will endure forever and never will its glory be tarnished. Their bodies were buried in peace but their memory lives through generations. People will speak of their wisdom and the assembly will celebrate their praise."

"No one has been found to equal Abraham in glory, the great ancestor of many nations. He was faithful to the Law of the Most High who made a covenant with him, a covenant that was marked on his flesh, and on the day he was tested he was found faithful. That is why God promised by oath to bless all the nations through his descendants, that he would make them as numerous as the dust of the earth and exalt his posterity like the stars. He promised that their land would stretch from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth."

"After him the Lord raised Nathan to prophesy in the time of David. As fat is selected from the peace offering, so David was chosen from among the Israelites. He played with lions and bears as if they were lambs or young goats. He was still young when he slew a giant to restore the honor of his people; with a sling he aimed a stone that killed the arrogant Goliath. He invoked the Lord Most High, who gave him strength to slay a mighty warrior, and so exalt the power of his people. So they glorified him for his ten thousands and praised him as a blessing from the Lord when he was chosen king. For he wiped out his enemies on all sides and annihilated his adversaries, the Philistines, crushing their power forever. In all that he did he gave thanks to the Most High, and showed his love for his Maker by singing with all his heart. He placed singers accompanied by harps before the altar to make beautiful music; he gave splendor to feasts and even greater magnificence to the more solemn occasions, exalting the holy Name of the Lord and having the sanctuary ring with his praises from early morning."

"No one on earth was created to equal Enoch for he was taken up from the earth. And never was there a man like Joseph, the greatest among his brothers, the leader of his people; his bones were honored. Shem and Seth were exalted among men, but Adam’s glory was greater than any other living being."

"Instruction in understanding and knowledge, that is what Jesus the son of Sira, the son of Eleazar of Jerusalem, has written in this book as he poured out the wisdom of his heart. Happy the one who pays attention to this teaching and gains wisdom by taking it to heart. Doing that, he will be strong in all circumstances, for the light of the Lord is his path."

"Be instructed, whatever the cost, and you will gain what is better than gold. Let your soul find joy in the mercy of the Lord, and do not be ashamed to praise him. Do your work within the appointed time, and the Lord in his time will give you your reward."

"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion."

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

"Such is the fate of everyone who goes in search of profit; it takes away the life of its owners."

"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?"

"So follow the way of good people And stay on the paths of the righteous, For only the upright will reside in the earth, And the blameless will remain in it. As for the wicked, they will be cut off from the earth, And the treacherous will be torn away from it."

"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart."

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

"Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil."

"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her."

"Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways."

"Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you."

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding."

"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day"

"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it is the wellspring of life."

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

"Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength."

"I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death."

"אַל-תּוֹכַח לֵץ פֶּן-יִשְׂנָאֶךָּ הוֹכַח לְחָכָם וְיֶאֱהָבֶךָּ"

"Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely."

"The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight."

"He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is foolish."

"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

"Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight."

"He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."

"The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied."

"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning men away from the nets of death."

"The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."

"The simple believes everything, But the prudent man carefully considers his ways."

"The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger."

"In all labor there is profit, ​But idle chatter leads only to poverty."

"A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."

"He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him."

"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

"Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith."

"Plans fail when there is no consultation, But there is accomplishment through many advisers."

"All one’s ways are pure in one’s own eyes, but the measurer of motives is the LORD."

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

"The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness."

"Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, Than a house full of feasting with strife."

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

"A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth."

"A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him."

"A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered."

"Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue."

"A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense."

"Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise."

"A king’s heart is like streams of water in Jehovah’s hand. He directs it wherever He pleases."

"To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."

"It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman."

"It is better to dwell in a desert land, Than with a contentious and fretful woman."

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."

"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."

"Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse: He that keepeth his soul shall be far from them."

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

"He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity."

"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."

"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words."

"Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."

"A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength."

"For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety."

"Meddle not with them that are given to change."

"To speak a word in due time, is like apples of gold on beds of silver."

"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee."

"As a troubled fountain, and a corrupted spring, So is a righteous man that giveth way before the wicked."

"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."

"Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; and he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him."

"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."

"They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them."

"Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things."

"Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich."

"God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law."

"מְכַסֶּה פְשָׁעָיו לֹא יַצְלִיחַ וּמוֹדֶה וְעֹזֵב יְרֻחָם"

"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent."

"He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, And considereth not that poverty shall come upon him."

"It is not for kings, O Lemuel-- not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more."

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

"When a poor man eats a chicken, one of them is sick."

"If you steal from a thief, you also have a taste of it."

"Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh said: Be exceedingly humble in spirit, for the hope of earthly man is but decay."

"Let your home be a meeting place for the wise; dust yourself in the soil of their feet, and drink thirstily of their words. -Yossei ben Yoezer"

"Love work, loath mastery over others, and avoid intimacy with the government. -Shmaayah"

"Who is wise? He who learns from all men -Ben Zoma"

"Youth is a crown of roses, old age a crown of willows."

"In old men there is no taste, in young no insight."

"I do not want a shoe larger than my foot."

"Don't boast of tomorrow, for you know not what a day will bring."

"Whoever seeks cake loses his bread."

"Whoever argues for the sake of argument is a boor."

"Any home not built for hot days or rains is not a home."

"All the world over, proverbs run in pairs, and pull both ways: for the most part one neutralizes, by contradiction, the other."

"Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long and wise experience."

"No hay refran que no sea verdadero."

"The wise man learns from the mistakes of others, the fool must learn from his own."

"They say that love flies out the window when poverty comes in the door, but people generally get the sense backwards. It doesn’t mean that when a man’s money runs out he’s shaken off by women. When he runs out of money, he naturally is in the dumps. He’s no good for anything. The strength goes out of his laugh, he becomes strangely soured. Finally, in desperation, he shakes off the woman."

"Problems or successes, they all are the results of our own actions. Karma. The philosophy of action is that no one else is the giver of peace or happiness. One's own karma, one's own actions are responsible to come to bring either happiness or success or whatever... As you sow, so shall you reap. It's a very old proverb of mankind... What we have done, the result of that comes to us whenever it comes, either today, tomorrow, hundred years later, hundred lives later, whatever, whatever."

"The supposed wisdom of proverbs is mainly imaginary. As a rule, proverbs go in pairs which say opposite things. The opposite of 'More haste, less speed' is 'A stitch in time saves nine.' The opposite of 'Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves,' 'Penny wise, pound foolish.' The opposite of 'Two heads are better than one,' is 'Too many cooks spoil the broth.' And so on. The great advantage of a proverb in argument is that it is supposed to be incontrovertible, as embodying the quintessential sagacity of our ancestors. But when once you have realised that proverbs go in pairs which say opposite things you can never again be downed by a proverb; you merely quote the opposite."

"[A proverb is] one man's wit, and all men's wisdom."

"Proverbs depend for their truth entirely on the occasion they are applied to. Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it."

"I can tell thee where that saying was born."

"Scoundrel maxim."

"I'll tell the names and sayings and the places of their birth, Of the seven great ancient sages so renowned on Grecian earth, The Lindian Cleobulus said, "The mean was still the best"; The Spartan Chilo, "Know thyself," a heaven-born phrase confessed. Corinthian Periander taught "Our anger to command," "Too much of nothing," Pittacus, from Mitylene's strand; Athenian Solon this advised, "Look to the end of life," And Bias from Priene showed, "Bad men are the most rife"; Milesian Thales urged that "None should e'er a surety be"; Few were their words, but if you look, you'll much in little see."

"Know thyself.—Solon. Consider the end.—Chilo. Know thy opportunity.—Pittacus. Most men are bad.—Bias. Nothing is impossible to industry.—Periander. Avoid excess.—Cleobulus. Suretyship is the precursor of ruin.—Thales."

"The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs."

"As Love and I late harbour'd in one inn, With proverbs thus each other entertain: "In love there is no lack," thus I begin; "Fair words make fools," replieth he again; "Who spares to speak doth spare to speed," quoth I; "As well," saith he, "too forward as too slow"; "Fortune assists the boldest," I reply; "A hasty man," quoth he, "ne'er wanted woe"; "Labour is light where love," quoth I," doth pay"; Saith he, "Light burden's heavy, if far borne"; Quoth I, "The main lost, cast the by away"; "Y'have spun a fair thread," he replies in scorn. And having thus awhile each other thwarted Fools as we met, so fools again we parted."

"Proverbs like the sacred books of each nation, are the sanctuary of the intuitions."

"Much matter decocted into few words."

"A proverb and a byword among all people."

"Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations."

"This formal fool, your man, speaks naught but proverbs, And speak men what they can to him he'll answer With some rhyme, rotten sentence, or old saying, Such spokes as ye ancient of ye parish use."

"Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked."

"The Devil is the enemy of proverbs ("Der Teuffel ist den Sprichwortten feindt")."

"Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur."

"When I noticed how very many go seriously wrong in their manner of living I concluded that I must apply a corrective to their belief and take counsel of the experience of mankind in order that they may live most gloriously and attain honor. Now I will teach thee, dearest son, in what way thou mayest fashion a rule for thy life. Therefore, so read my precepts that thou mayest understand them, for to read and not to understand is equivalent to not reading."

"Try not with words the talker to outdo; On all is speech bestowed: good sense on few. (10) Love others so that thou'rt to self a friend; Prefer the good and thus dire harm forfend. (11) On others' promise do not base thine own; Talk doth abound: good faith is rarely shown. (13)"

"Let not despair o'er ill thy courage take; Not e'en at death doth hope a man forsake. (25) Observe what's past and what may next ensue And Janus-like keep both ways under view. (27) Disdain not, arrogant, what most advise; Thou none canst please while thou dost all despise. (29) Guard well thy health with special care and skill; Thyself and not the seasons blame when ill. (30)"

"If wealth abounds, when life draws near its end, Be not a stingy, but a generous friend. (9) If from thy wealth and place thou dost descend, Still be content with what the seasons send. (11) For dowry take not to thyself a wife. Nor keep her with thee if she spoils thy life.(12) From others' actions seek to find the clue To what thou best mayst shun and best mayst do. (13) Speak out when wrong thou knowest hath been done, Lest thou thro' silence urge the culprit on. (15)"

"Deo supplica. Parentes ama. Cognatos cole."

"Libros lege. Quae legeris memento. Liberos erudi."

"Alienum noli concupiscere."

"Stultitiam simulare loco, prudentia summa est."

"He knew nat Catoun, for his wit was rude, That bad man sholde wedde his similitude."

"Come see me is nothing, come live with me something""

"follow fashion break monkey neck""

"Goat say him hab wool; sheep say him hab har [hair]""

"Greedy choke puppy""

"Have money, have friend""

"Hog run for him life, dog run for him character"

""Hungry fowl wake soon"."

"If you see fippence [three pence] you know how dollar made"

"John Crow never make house until rain come"

""Lizard no plant corn but him hab plenty."

"Man can't whistle and smoke one time"

"misfortune never throw cloud""

"No ebry ting you yerry [hear] good fe talk""

"Dog eat ya lunch"

"No throw away dirty water before you have clean""

"Ole firestick no hard fo catch."

"one tief no like see other tief carry long bag."

"Parson christen him own pickaninny first."

"rain nebber fall at one man door."

"Stone at sea bottom no know sun hot."

"Shoe know if stocking hab hole""

"Trouble nebber blow shell""

"Stranger no know when de deep water."

"Sleep hab no massa"

"Spider and fly no make bargain."

"“when a man say him no mind, den he mind”"

"When hand full, him hab plenty company"

"You shake man hand, you no shake him heart"

"time longer than rope."

"when fowl drinky water him lift up him head and say, tank god, but man drinky water and say noting."

"“when eye no see, mout' no talk""

"When man no done grown, him nebber should cuss long man"

"Cuss cuss [calling names] no bore hole in skin."

"Cunning better dan strong"

"de rope you pulling, no de rope i cutting."

"ebbery day fishing day, but no ebbery day catchy fish"

"Hot needle burn thread."

"Big blanket make man sleep late."

"When cockroach gib dance, him no ax fowl"

"cockroach nebber so drunk he no crossy fowl-yard."

"dead hog no fear boiling water"

"When man dead, grass grow to 'em door."

"Yer play with puppy, him lick you mouth."

"Mad dogs bite the hand that feed them."

"A boaster and liar are first-cousins."

"Don't trust people who talk much."

"Fool talk much, wise men talk less."

"Clean you door mouth first, then tell you neighbor 'bout dem own."

"Some man bu'n dem hand when they only mean to warm dem."

"In time of prosperity, friends will be plenty;"

"In time of adversity, not one in twenty."

"Don't hang yer basket higher than you can reach 'em."

"Don't hollow out "fried fish" til you catch 'em."

"Long o' long, short o' short, we die."

"See like you ain't see, and hear like you ain't hear"

""When you listen you learn, and when you learn you listened"."

"Hand go, hand come."

""Wha sweeten yu mouth goin bitter yu tail."

"Fisherman never smell he own basket"

"Hog know where to rub he skin"

"Fattening frog for snake"

"When han' full him hav' plenty company"

"Cunning better than strong"

"Misfortune nebber t'row cloud"

"Shoe know if stockin' hab hole"

"Erry day Fishin day but not erry day catch fish"

"Stone at bottom of sea no know sun hot"

"Coakroach nebber so drunk, he no cross fowl yar"

"no thro away dirty water befo' you hab clean"

"Seven year no nough to wash speckle off guinea hen' back"

"The rope you pullin' no de rope I cuttin'"

"Spider an' fly no make bargain"

"When fowl drink water him lif' up him head and say 'Tank God" but man drink water and no say not'ing"

"Time longer dan rope."

"Ὥσπερ οἱ ἰχθύες ἐγχρονίζον τες τῇ ξηρᾷ τελευτῶσιν, οὕτως καὶ οἱ μοναχοὶ, βρα δύνοντες ἔξω τοῦ κελλίου, ἢ μετὰ κοσμικῶν διατρί βοντες, πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἡσυχίας τόνον ἐκλύονται. Δεῖ οὖν, ὥσπερ τὸν ἰχθὺν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, οὕτως καὶ ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ κελλίον ἐπείγεσθαι, μήποτε βραδύνοντες ἔξω ἐπιλαθώμεθα τῆς ἔνδον φυλακῆς"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀντώνιος, ὅτι Ἔρχεται και ρὸς, ἵνα οἱ ἄνθρωποι μανῶσι, καὶ ἐπὰν ἴδωσί τινα μὴ μαινόμενον, ἐπαναστήσονται αὐτῷ λέγοντες, ὅτι Σὺ μαίνῃ, διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ὅμοιον αὐτοῖς"

"Ποτὲ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀντώνιος ἐδέξατο Κωνσταντίου τοῦ βασιλέως γράμματα, ἵνα ἔλθῃ εἰς Κωνσταντι νούπολιν· καὶ ἐσκόπει τί ποιῆσαι. Λέγει οὖν τῷ ἀββᾷ Παύλῳ τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ· Ὤφειλον ἀπελθεῖν; Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἐὰν ἀπέλθῃς, Ἀντώνιος λέγῃ· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀπέλθῃς, ἀββᾶς Ἀντώνιος"

"Μισήσατε τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ. Μισήσατε πᾶσαν σαρκικὴν ἀνάπαυσιν. Ἀποτάξασθε τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ, ἵνα ζήσητε τῷ Θεῷ."

"Ὁ τύπτων τὸ μαζὶν τοῦ σιδήρου, πρῶτον σκοπεῖ τὸν λογισμὸν τί μέλλει ποιεῖν, δρέπανον, μάχαιραν, πέλυκα. Οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν λογίζεσθαι ποίαν ἀρετὴν μετερχόμεθα, ἵνα μὴ εἰς κενὸν κοπιάσωμεν."

"Ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀρσένιος, ἔτι ὢν ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ, εὔξατο τῷ Θεῷ λέγων· Κύριε, ὁδήγησόν με πῶς σωθῶ. Καὶ ἦλθεν αὐτῷ φωνὴ λέγουσα· Ἀρσένιε, φεῦγε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ σώζῃ."

"Ἐρωτῶντός ποτε τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ἀρσενίου τινὰ γέ ροντα Αἰγύπτιον περὶ ἰδίων λογισμῶν, ἕτερος ἰδὼν αὐτὸν εἶπεν· Ἀββᾶ Ἀρσένιε, πῶς τοσαύτην παίδευ σιν Ρωμαϊκὴν καὶ Ἑλληνικὴν ἐπιστάμενος, τοῦτον τὸν ἀγροῖκον περὶ τῶν σῶν λογισμῶν ἐρωτᾷς; Ὁ δὲ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Τὴν μὲν Ρωμαϊκὴν καὶ Ἑλληνι κὴν ἐπίσταμαι παίδευσιν· τὸν δὲ ἀλφάβητον τοῦ ἀγροίκου τούτου οὔπω μεμάθηκα"

"Ὅση δύναμίς σοί ἐστιν, ἀγώνισαι, ἵνα ἡ ἔνδον σου ἐργασία κατὰ Θεὸν ᾗ, καὶ νικήσῃ τὰ ἔξω πάθη."

"ἀλλ΄ οὐ δύναμαι εἶναι μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Αἱ ἄνω χιλιάδες καὶ μυριάδες ἓν θέλημα ἔχουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι πολλὰ θελήματα ἔχουσιν. Οὐ δύναμαι οὖν ἀφεῖναι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐλθεῖν μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων"

"Ἠρωτήθη ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀγάθων, τί μεῖζον, ὁ σω ματικὸς κόπος, ἢ ἡ φυλακὴ τῶν ἔνδον. Εἶπε δὲ ὁ γέ ρων· Ἔοικε δένδρῳ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ τοίνυν σωματι κὸς κόπος φύλλα ἐστίν· ἡ δὲ τῶν ἔνδον φυλακὴ ὁ καρπός ἐστιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, Πᾶν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτε ται, καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται, φανερόν ἐστιν ὅτι διὰ τὸν καρπόν ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἡ σπουδὴ πᾶσα, τουτέστι τὴν τοῦ νοὸς φυλακήν. Χρεία δέ ἐστι καὶ τῆς ἐκ τῶν φύλ λων σκέπης καὶ εὐκοσμίας, ἅτινά ἐστιν ὁ σωματικὸς κόπος"

"Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ἀγάθωνος, ὅτι τρία ἔτη ἐποίησεν, ἔχων λίθον εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, ἕως οὗ κατώρθωσε τὸ σιωπᾷν"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Ἀβραὰμ, λέγων· Ἐὰν συμβῇ με πολλάκις φαγεῖν, τί ἐστι; Καὶ ἀπο κριθεὶς ὁ γέρων εἶπε· Τί λαλεῖς, ἀδελφέ; τοσαῦτα ἐσθίεις; ἢ δοκεῖς ὅτι εἰς ἅλωνα ἦλθες;"

"Ἐὰν μὴ εἴπῃ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι Ἐγὼ μόνος καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, οὐχ ἕξει ἀνάπαυσιν."

"Εἰ μὴ τὸ ὅλον κατέστρεψα, οὐκ ἂν ἠδυνήθην ἐμαυτὸν οἰκοδομῆσαι."

"Πρέπει τῷ μοναχῷ τὰ τρία ταῦτα· ἡ ξενιτεία, ἡ πτωχεία, καὶ ἡ σιωπὴ ἐν ὑπομονῇ."

"Ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Δουλᾶς ὁ μαθητὴς τοῦ ἀββᾶ Βισαρίωνος, ὅτι Ὁδευόντων ἡμῶν ποτε εἰς ὄχθαν τῆς θαλάσσης, ἐδίψησα, καὶ εἶπον τῷ ἀββᾷ Βισαρίωνι· Ἀββᾶ, διψῶ πάνυ. Καὶ ποιήσας εὐχὴν ὁ γέρων, λέ γει μοι· Πίε ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης. Καὶ ἐγλυκάνθη τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἔπιον. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἤντλησα εἰς τὸ ἀγγεῖον, μήποτε παρ΄ ἐκεῖ διψήσω. Καὶ ἰδὼν ὁ γέρων, 140 λέγει μοι· Διατί ἤντλησας; Λέγω αὐτῷ· Συγχώρησόν μοι, μή ποτε παρ΄ ἐκεῖ διψήσω. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ γέρων· Ὁ Θεὸς ὧδε, καὶ πάντη Θεός"

"Ἀδελφός τις ἁμαρτήσας ἐχωρίζετο ὑπὸ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Ὁ δὲ ἀββᾶς Βισαρίων ἀναστὰς συνεξῆλθεν αὐτῷ͵ λέγων͵ ὅτι Κἀγὼ ἁμαρ τωλός εἰμι"

"Ὁ ἀββᾶς Βισαρίων ἀποθνήσκων ἔλεγεν, ὅτι ὀφείλει εἶναι ὁ μοναχὸς, ὡς τὰ χερουβὶμ καὶ τὰ σε ραφὶμ, ὅλος ὀφθαλμός."

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Εὐπρέπιος, ὅτι τὰ σωματικὰ ὕλη εἰσίν. Ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν κόσμον ἀγαπᾷ προσκόμ ματα. Εἴπερ οὖν συμβῇ τί ποτε ἀπολέσθαι, τοῦτο μετὰ χαρᾶς καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως δέχεσθαι δεῖ, ὡς φροντίδων ἀπαλλαγέντας"

"Ἔλεγε πάλιν πρὸς τοὺς καλῶς ἀρχομένους καὶ ὑποτασσομένους Πατράσιν ἁγίοις, ὅτι Ἡ πρώτη βαφὴ οὐκ ἀποβάλλει, ὡς ἐπὶ πορφύρας. Καί· ὅτι Ὥσπερ οἱ κλάδοι οἱ ἁπαλοὶ εὐχερῶς μεταστρέ φονται καὶ κάμπτονται, οὕτως καὶ οἱ ἀρχάριοι ὄντες ἐν ὑποταγῇ"

"Ὁ αὐτὸς ἀββᾶς Θεόφιλος ὁ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος παρέβαλέ ποτε εἰς τὴν Σκῆτιν. Συναχθέντες δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ εἶπον τῷ ἀββᾷ Παμβώ· Εἰπὲ ἕνα λόγον τῷ Πάπᾳ, ὅπως ὠφεληθῇ. Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· Εἰ οὐκ ὠφελεῖται ἐν τῇ σιωπῇ μου, οὐδὲ ἐν τῷ λόγῳ μου ὠφεληθῆναι ἔχει."

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἰωσὴφ τῷ ἀββᾷ Λώτ· Οὐ δύνα σαι γενέσθαι μοναχὸς, ἐὰν μὴ γένῃ ὡς πῦρ φλογιζό μενος ὅλος"

"Παρέβαλεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Λὼτ τῷ ἀββᾷ Ἰωσὴφ, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἀββᾶ κατὰ δύναμίν μου ποιῶ τὴν μι κράν μου σύναξιν, καὶ τὴν μικρὰν νηστείαν μου, καὶ τὴν εὐχὴν, καὶ τὴν μελέτην, καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν, καὶ τὸ κατὰ δύναμίν μου καθαρεύω τοῖς λογισμοῖς. Τί οὖν ἔχω ποιῆσαι λοιπόν; Ἀναστὰς οὖν ὁ γέρων, ἥπλωσε τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν· καὶ γεγόνασιν οἱ δάκτυ λοι αὐτοῦ, ὡς δέκα λαμπάδες πυρός· καὶ λέγει αὐ τῷ· Εἰ θέλεις, γενοῦ ὅλος ὡς πῦρ"

"Ἠρώτησάν τινες τὸν ἀββᾶν Μακάριον, λέγον τες· Πῶς ὀφείλομεν προσεύχεσθαι; Λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· Οὐκ ἔστι χρεία βαττολογεῖν, ἀλλ΄ ἐκτείνειν τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ λέγειν· Κύριε, ὡς θέλεις καὶ ὡς οἶδας, ἐλέησον. Ἐὰν δὲ ἐπίκειται πόλεμος· Κύριε, βοήθει. Καὶ αὐτὸς οἶδε τὰ συμφέροντα, καὶ ποιεῖ μεθ΄ ἡμῶν ἔλεος"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Μωϋσέα, λέγων· Ὁρῶ ἐνώπιόν μου πρᾶγμα, καὶ οὐ δύναμαι αὐτὸ κα τασχεῖν. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Ἐὰν μὴ γίνῃ νεκρὸς ὡς οἱ ταφέντες, οὐ δύνασαι αὐτὸ κατασχεῖν"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμὴν, ὅτι ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Μωϋσέα, ποίῳ τρόπῳ νεκροῖ ἑαυτὸν ἄν θρωπος ἀπὸ τοῦ πλησίον. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων ὅτι, Ἐὰν μὴ θήσει ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ, ἑαυτὸν ἤδη τριήμερον ἐν μνημείῳ, οὐ φθάνει εἰς τὸν λόγον τοῦτον"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Ματόην, λέγων· Τί ποιήσω; ὅτι ἡ γλῶσσά μου θλίβει με· καὶ ὅταν ἔρχωμαι ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐ δύναμαι κατα σχεῖν αὐτήν· ἀλλὰ κατακρίνω αὐτοὺς ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ, καὶ ἐλέγχω αὐτούς. Τί οὖν ποιήσω; Καὶ ἀπο κριθεὶς ὁ γέρων εἶπεν· Εἰ οὐ δύνασαι κατέχειν ἑαυ τὸν, φύγε καταμόνας. Ἀσθένεια γάρ ἐστιν. Ὁ δὲ καθ ήμενος μετὰ ἀδελφῶν, οὐκ ὀφείλει εἶναι τετραγω νιαῖος, ἀλλὰ στρογγύλος, ἵνα πρὸς πάντας κυλίηται. Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ γέρων Οὐ κατὰ ἀρετὴν κάθημαι κατα μόνας, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἀσθένειαν· δυνατοὶ γάρ εἰσιν, οἱ ἐρχόμενοι εἰς τὸ μέσον τῶν ἀνθρώπων."

"Ἠρωτήθη ὁ ἀββᾶς Μιὼς ὑπὸ στρατευομένου, εἰ ἄρα δέχεται μετάνοιαν ὁ Θεός. Ὁ δὲ μετὰ τὸ κατ ηχῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐν πολλοῖς λόγοις, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· 304 Εἰπέ μοι, ἀγαπητέ· ἐὰν σχισθῇ σου τὸ χλανίδιον, βάλλεις τοῦτο ἔξω; Λέγει· Οὔ· ἀλλὰ ῥάπτω αὐτὸ, καὶ χρῶμαι αὐτῷ. Λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ γέρων· Εἰ οὖν σὺ τοῦ ἱματίου φείδῃ, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ ἰδίου πλάσματος οὐ φείσεται"

"Εἶπε πάλιν περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Πίωρ, ὅτι ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐτίθει ἀρχήν"

"Παρέβαλόν τινες τῶν γερόντων πρὸς τὸν ἀββᾶν Ποιμένα, καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Θέλεις, ἐὰν ἴδωμεν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς νυστάζοντας εἰς τὴν σύναξιν, νύξωμεν αὐ τοὺς, ἵνα γρηγορῶσιν εἰς τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν; Ὁ δὲ λέ γει αὐτοῖς· Ἐγὼ τέως ἐὰν ἴδω τὸν ἀδελφὸν νυστά ζοντα, τιθῶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰ γόνατά μου, καὶ ἀναπαύω αὐτόν"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Παμβώ· Εἰ ἔχεις καρδίαν δύ νασαι σωθῆναι"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Σισόην τὸν Θη βαῖον, λέγων· Εἰπέ μοι ῥῆμα. Καὶ λέγει· Τί σοι ἔχω εἰπεῖν; ὅτι εἰς τὴν Καινὴν Γραφὴν ἀναγινώσκω, καὶ εἰς τὴν Παλαιὰν ἀνακάμπτω"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Σισόης· Ζήτει τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ μὴ ζήτει ποῦ κατοικεῖ"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Σισόης ὁ Θηβαῖος τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ· Εἰπέ μοι τί βλέπεις εἰς ἐμὲ, κἀγώ σοι λέγω τί βλέπω εἰς σέ. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ· Σὺ καλὸς τῷ νῷ, καὶ σκληρὸς μικρόν. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέ ρων· Σὺ καλὸς εἶ, ἀλλὰ χαῦνος τῷ νῷ"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Σαραπίωνα, λέ γων· Εἰπέ μοι λόγον. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Τί σοι ἔχω εἰπεῖν; ὅτι ἔλαβες τὰ τῶν χηρῶν καὶ ὀρφανῶν, καὶ ἔθηκας εἰς τὴν θυρίδα ταύτην· εἶδε γὰρ αὐτὴν μεστὴν βιβλίων"

"Στέφανός ἐστι μοναχοῦ ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη."

"When Abba Arsenius was still in the palace, he prayed to God, saying, "Lord, show me the way to be saved," and there came to him a voice saying, "Arsenius, flee from people and you shall be saved.""

"A brother visited Abba Moses at Scete, asking him for a saying. The elder said to him, "Go and stay in a cell; your cell will teach you everything.""

"Abba Isaiah said, "Love to be silent rather than to speak; for silence saves up, but speaking fritters away.""

"Abba Macarius the Great used to say to the brothers at Scete when he was dismissing the congregation, "Flee, brothers!" One of the fathers said to him, "Where can we fly to that is further removed than this desert?" and he placed his finger on his mouth, saying, "Flee from this," and, so saying, he went into his own cell, shut the door, and stayed there."

"Abba Joseph asked Abba Poemen, "Tell me how I can become a monk." Said the elder to him, "If you want to find repose here and in the age to come, say in every situation, ‘I, who am I?’ and do not pass judgment on anybody.""

"A brother asked Abba Macarius, "How might I be saved?" The elder replied, "Be as though dead and pay no attention (like the dead) to the scorn or the admiration of people, and you will be saved.""

"Abba Poemen said, "What is the point of building a house for somebody else and destroying one’s own?""

"He [Abba Poemen] also said, "What is the point in taking up a trade without learning it?""

"Abba Alōnas said, "Unless a person says in his heart, ‘I alone and God are in the world,’ he will not have repose.""

"He [an elder] also said, "The bee makes honey wherever it goes; likewise, the monk too performs the work of God wherever he goes.""

"An elder was asked, "Why am I afraid when I walk about in the desert?" "Because you are still alive," he replied."

"An elder was asked, "How come you are never discouraged?" and he answered, "Because every day I expect to die.""

"He was also asked, "Why am I continually negligent?" "Because you have never seen the sun," he replied."

"An elder said, "The root of all good works is truth.""

"An elder said, "A person who does not receive all people as equal but makes distinctions—such a person cannot be perfect.""

"The elders used to say, "In the same way that fire burns wood, so the work of the monk ought to burn the passions.""

"1. Ἠρωτήθη ὁ ἅγιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀθανάσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος Ἀλεξανδρείας· Πῶς ἴσος ὁ υἱὸς τῷ πατρί; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ὡς ἐν δυσὶν ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸ ὁρᾶν."

"10. Εἶπεν γέρων· Αὕτη ἡ φωνὴ βοᾷ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἕως ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς ὅτι σήμερον ἐπίστρεψον."

"18. Εἶπεν γέρων ἑτέρῳ γέροντι ἔχοντι ἀγάπην, καὶ συμβαλλομένῳ καὶ μοναχοῖς καὶ κοσμικοῖς· ὅτι ὁ λύχνος πολλοὺς φαίνει [f. 161v] τὸ δὲ ἑαυτοῦ στόμα καίει."

"28. Παρέβαλέ τις τῶν ἐπισκόπων κατ᾿ ἐνιαυτὸν εἰς Σκῆτιν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας, καὶ ἀπαντήσας αὐτῷ ἀδελφὸς ἤνεγκεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ κελλίον ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ παραθεὶς αὐτῷ ἄρτον καὶ ἅλας, ἔλεγεν· Συγχώρησόν μοι, κύρι, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἔχω παραθεῖναί σοι. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· Θέλω ἵνα καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐρχόμενον ἔτος εἰσελθών, μήτε ἅλας εὕρω."

"29. Ἔλεγέ τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν· ὅτι ἐγένετο ζήτησις ἐν τῇ λαύρᾳ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἐλάλησαν πάντες, οἱ μεγάλοι καὶ οἱ μικροί, εἷς δὲ μόνος οὐκ ἐλάλησεν. Καὶ ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν, ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν εἷς [f. 164r] ἀδελφὸς λέγων· Πῶς σὺ οὐκ ἐλάλησας; Ὁ δὲ βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ εἶπεν· Συγχώρησόν μοι, ὅτι εἶπον τῷ λογισμῷ μου· ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ λαλήσῃ τὸ ἐμβρίμιον τὸ ὑποκάτω μου, μὴ λαλήσῃς. Καὶ οὕτως ἔμεινα σιωπῶν καὶ μὴ φθεγγόμενος."

"33. Ἦν τις γέρων καλούμενος Ἱέραξ εἰς τὰ μέρη Θηβαΐδος ἐλάσας περὶ τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἔτη. Καὶ θέλοντες οἱ δαίμονες εἰς ἀκηδίαν αὐτὸν ἐμβαλεῖν τῷ μήκει τοῦ χρόνου ἐπέστησαν αὐτῷ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ λέγοντες· Τί ποιήσεις, γέρον, ὅτι ἄλλα πεντήκοντα1 ἔχεις ζῆσαι; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἐλυπήσατέ με πάνυ. Διακοσίων γὰρ ἐτῶν παρασκευὴν ἔθηκα. Οἱ δὲ ἀπήρχοντο ὀλολύζοντες ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ."

"35. Ἀναχωρητῇ τινὶ μεγάλῳ εἰπόντι· Τί οὕτως με πολεμεῖς, Σατανᾶ; ἐπήκουσεν ὁ Σατανᾶς λέγων· Σὺ εἶ ὁ μεγάλως με πολεμῶν."

"36. Ἀναχωρητής τις εἶδεν δαίμονα προτρεπόμενον ἕτερον δαίμονα, ἐλθεῖν καὶ διυπνίσαι καθεύδοντα μοναχόν. Καὶ ἀκούει τοῦ ἄλλου λέγοντος· Οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ποτὲ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐξύπνισα, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔκαυσέ με ψάλλων καὶ εὐχόμενος."

"45. Γέρων τις ἀπῄει πωλῆσαι τὰ μαλάκια αὐτοῦ. Τούτῳ δαίμων ἀπαντήσας, ἄφαντα αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν. Ὁ δὲ γέρων ἐτράπη εἰς εὐχὴν καὶ ἔλεγεν· Εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὁ Θεός, ὅτι ἀπήλλαξάς με πειρασμοῦ. Ὁ δὲ δαίμων μὴ [f. 171v] ὑπομείνας τὴν φιλοσοφίαν τοῦ γέροντος ἔκραξε λέγων· Ἰδοὺ τὰ μαλάκιά σου, κακόγηρε. Ὁ δὲ γέρων λαβὼν ἐπώλησεν αὐτά."

"65. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ῥίζα πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστὶν ἡ λήθη."

"86. Μοναχός τις εἰργάζετο ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Μάρτυρος, ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ἄλλος μοναχός, λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἔνι σήμερον ἐργάσασθαι; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Σήμερον ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξέετο μαρτυρῶν καὶ ἐβασανίζετο, κἀγὼ οὐκ ὀφείλω κοπιᾶσαι μικρὸν ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ σήμερον;"

"89. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων ποῖον δεῖ εἶναι τὸν μοναχόν; καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐὰν ὡς κατ᾿ ἐμὲ μόνος πρὸς μόνον."

"90. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· διατί εἰς τὴν ἔρημον περιπατῶν φοβοῦμαι; καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἀκμὴν ζῇς."

"91. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Τί δεῖ ποιοῦντας σωθῆναι; Ἦν δὲ σειρὰν ἐργαζόμενος καὶ μὴ ἀνανεύων ἐκ τοῦ ἔργου, καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἰδοὺ βλέπεις."

"92. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· διατί συνεχῶς ὀλιγωρῶ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἐπειδὴ οὔπω τὸ μίλιον εἶδες."

"93. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Τί ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ μοναχοῦ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Διάκρισις."

"96. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες· Ἔσοπτρόν ἐστι τοῦ μοναχοῦ ἡ εὐχή."

"100. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες ὅτι ἡ ψυχὴ πηγή ἐστιν, ἐὰν ὀρύξῃς καθαρίζεται, ἐὰν δὲ προσχώσῃς ἀφανίζεται."

"105. Εἶπεν γέρων· ὅτι εἴκοσι ἔτη ἔμεινα πρὸς ἕνα λογισμὸν πολεμῶν, ἵνα πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὡς ἔνα βλέπω."

"111. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες· Ἐὰν ἴδῃς νεώτερον τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ ἀνερχόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, κράτησον αὐτοῦ τὸν πόδα καὶ ῥίψον αὐτὸν κάτω, συμφέρει γὰρ αὐτῷ."

"113. Εἶπεν γέρων· ὅτι τὸ ἔργον ἡμῶν καίειν ἐστὶν ξύλα."

"127. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ἡ ἀμεριμνία καὶ τὸ σιωπᾶν καὶ ἡ κρυπτὴ μελέτη τίκτουσι τὴν ἁγνείαν."

"129. Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε γέροντα λέγων· Καλὸν ἕξιν ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν πλησίον; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Αἱ τοιαῦται ἕξεις δύναμιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν κλᾶσαι κιμόν·2 πρὸς [f. 185r] τὸν ἀδελφόν σου ἕξιν ἔχεις, μᾶλλον εἰ θέλεις ἕξιν ἔχειν, ἔχε πρὸς τὰ πάθη."

"130. Ἀδελφὸς ᾐτεῖτο γέροντος εὐχήν, σπεύδων ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν. Ὁ δὲ γέρων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Μὴ σπεῦδε ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ σπεῦσον τοῦ φυγεῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ σώζῃ."

"133. [f. 189v] Εἶπεν γέρων· Ὀφείλει ὁ μοναχὸς ἀγοράζειν τὴν ἡσυχίαν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸ καταφρονεῖν, ἐὰν καὶ σωματικὴ ζημία συμβῇ."

"154. Μοναχὸς ὑπαντήσας κανονικαῖς κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν, ὑπεχώρησεν ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ. Εἶπεν δὲ ἡ ἡγουμένη πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰ ᾖς τέλειος μοναχός, ἡμῖν ὡς γυναιξὶν οὐκ ἂν1 προσέσχες."

"231. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος ἐσθίων πολλὰ καὶ ἔτι πεινῶν, καὶ ἔστιν ἄλλος ὀλίγα ἐσθίων καὶ χορταζόμενος, καὶ ὁ πολλὰ ἐσθίων καὶ ἔτι πεινῶν, πλείονα2 μισθὸν ἕξει τοῦ ὀλίγα ἐσθίοντος καὶ χορταζομένου."

"233. Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε γέροντα· ὅτι ἡ ἀδελφή μου πτωχή ἐστιν. Ἐὰν δῷ αὐτῇ6 ἀγάπην, οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς εἰς πτωχόν; Λέγει ὁ γέρων· Οὐχί. Εἶπεν δὲ ὁ ἀδελφός· Διατί, ἀββᾶ; Ἔφη ὁ γέρων· Ὅτι τὸ αἷμα ἕλκει σε μικρόν."

"250. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ὥσπερ ἡ τάξις τῶν μοναχῶν προτιμoτέρα τῶν κοσμικῶν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ὁ ξένος μοναχὸς ὀφείλει εἶναι ἔσοπτρον τοῖς ἐντοπίοις μοναχοῖς κατὰ πάντα τρόπον."

"265. Εἶπεν γέρων· χρυσίον ἐάν τις ἀπολέσῃ ἢ ἀργύριον, δύναται ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ εὑρεῖν, καιρὸν δὲ ὁ ἀπόλλων, ἄλλον εὑρεῖν οὐ δύναται."

"266. Παρέβαλέ τις τῶν γερόντων ποτὲ πρὸς ἄλλον γέροντα, καὶ λαλούντων αὐτῶν, ἔλεγεν ὁ εἷς· Ἐγὼ ἀπέ [f. 222v] θανον τῷ κόσμῳ. Λέγει ὁ ἄλλος γέρων· Μὴ θαρσήσῃς ἑαυτῷ, ἀδελφέ, ἕως ἂν ἐξέλθῃς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, εἰ γὰρ σὺ λέγεις ὅτι ἀπέθανον, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ Σατανᾶς οὐκ ἀπέθανεν."

"313. Ἄλλῳ γέροντι ἔλεγον οἱ δαίμονες· Θέλεις ἰδεῖν τὸν Χριστόν; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ἀ [f. 232r] νάθεμα ὑμῖν καὶ ᾧ λέγετε. Τῷ γὰρ ἐμῷ Χριστῷ πιστεύω εἰπόντι· Ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ· ἰδοὺ ὧδε ὁ Χριστός, ἰδοὺ ἐκεῖ, μὴ πιστεύσητε. Καὶ εὐθέως ἀφανεῖς ἐγένοντο."

"321. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ἐὰν κτήσῃ σιωπήν, μὴ ἔχε [f. 233r] ἑαυτὸν ὡς ἀρετὴν κατορθῶν, ἀλλὰ λέγε ὅτι ἀνάξιος εἰμὶ καὶ τοῦ λαλεῖν."

"326. Εἶπεν γέρων· Μὴ ἔχε [f. 233v] γνῶσιν μετὰ ἡγουμένου μηδὲ πύκναζε πρὸς αὐτόν. Ἐκ τούτου γὰρ καὶ παῤῥησίαν ἕξεις καὶ τοῦ ἡγεῖσθαι λοιπὸν ἐπιθυμήσεις."

"333. Γέρων τις ἦν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην, καὶ εἰσελθὼν ἐν καύματι εἰς σπήλαιον, εὗρεν ἔσω λέοντα καὶ ἤρξατο βρύχειν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ καὶ ὠρύεσθαι. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Τί θλίβῃ; ἔνι τόπος χωρῶν ἐμὲ καὶ σέ. Εἰ δὲ οὐ θέλεις, ἀνάστα ἔξελθε. Ὁ δὲ λέων μὴ βαστάξας ἐξῆλθεν."

"337. Ἦλθόν ποτε ἐν μοναστηρίῳ γέροντός τινος λῃσταί, καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· Πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ σου λαβεῖν ἥκαμεν. Ὁ δὲ φησίν· Ὡς ἂν δοκῇ ὑμῖν, τέκνα, λάβετε. Ἔλαβον οὖν ἃ εὗρον ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ καὶ ἀπῆλθον. Ἐπελάθοντο δὲ ἓν μαρσίππιον, ὃ ἦν ἐκεῖ κρεμάμενον. Ὁ οὖν γέρων, λαβὼν αὐτό, κατεδίωξεν ὀπίσω αὐτῶν βοῶν καὶ λέγων· Τέκνα, λάβετε ὃ ἐπελάθεσθε ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ ἡμῶν. Οἱ δέ, θαυμάσαντες ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνεξικακίᾳ τοῦ γέροντος, ἀποκατέστησαν αὐτῷ πάντα ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ, καὶ μετενόησαν εἰπόντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους· Ἀληθῶς ἄνθρωπος Θεοῦ ἐστὶν οὗτος."

"364. Εἶπέν τις τῶν πατέρων ὅτι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ χοίρου, φυσικῶς ἔχουσι τὴν πλάσιν, ὥστε ἀνάγκῃ νεύειν εἰς τὴν γῆν, μηδέποτε δὲ δύνασθαι ἀνανεῦσαι2 εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Οὕτως, φησί, καὶ τοῦ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ἐγγλυκανθέντος ἡ ψυχή, ἅπαξ κατολισθήσασα πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἡδυπαθείας βόρβορον, ἀνανεῦσαι ἀδυνατεῖ."

"392. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ὅτι ἐκέκτητό τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν εὐαγγέλιον μόνον, καὶ τοῦτο πωλήσας ἔδωκεν [f. 246v] εἰς τροφὴν τοῖς πένησιν, ἄξιον μνήμης ἐπιφθεγξάμενος ῥῆμα· αὐτὸν γάρ φησι, τὸν λόγον πεπώληκα τὸν λέγοντα· Πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς."

"399. Εἶπεν [247v] γέρων· Ἡ μέλισσα ὅπου ὑπάγει μέλι ποιεῖ. Οὕτως καὶ ὁ μοναχός, ὅπου ὑπάγει τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐργάζεται."

"400. Εἶπεν γέρων ὅτι ὁ σατανᾶς σχοινοπλόκος ἐστίν· ὅσον παρέχεις αὐτῷ λῶμα καὶ αὐτὸς πλέκει. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπεν περὶ τῶν λογισμῶν."

"429. Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε γέροντα λέγων ὅτι πολεμοῦμαι ὑπὸ τῆς πορνείας. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Εἰ μὲν καλόν ἐστιν, διατί ἀπέστης ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, εἰ δὲ σαπρόν, διατί ἐπιζητεῖς αὐτό;"

"434. Εἶπεν γέρων ὅτι ὁ κύων κρείττων μου ἐστίν, διότι ἀγάπην ἔχει καὶ εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται."

"436. Εἶπεν γέρων· Γενοῦ ὡς κάμηλος βαστάζων τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, καὶ δεδεμένος ἀκολουθῶν τῷ ἐπισταμένῳ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ."

"439. Ἀδελφὸς εὗρεν ξύλον ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἀποπεπτωκὸς ἀπὸ τῆς καμήλου καὶ ἤνεγκεν αὐτὸ εἰς τὸ κελλίον. Εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς αὐτοῦ· Πόθεν ἤνεγκας αὐτό; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Εἰ μὲν ἦν ἐλαυνόμενον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου, φέρε αὐτὸ ἔσω, εἰ δὲ μή, ὕπαγε θὲς αὐτὸ εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ."

"442. Ἄρχων τις ἔχαιρεν τῇ θέᾳ τῶν κυνηγίων καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ ἄλλο τι οὐκ ἦν, εἰ μὴ βρωθῆναι τοὺς κυνηγούς. Συνέβη δὲ αὐτὸν ναυαγῆσαι [f. 257v] καὶ ἐβόησε πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν λέγων· Κύριε, βοήθησόν μοι ἐν τῇ ἀνάγκῃ ταύτῃ. Καὶ φαίνεται αὐτῷ ὁ Κύριος καθόλου τοῦ σώματος βεβρωμένος καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Οὕτως μὲ θέλεις ὁρᾶν καὶ πῶς σοὶ βοηθήσω;"

"472. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ἐὰν ἴδῃς τινὰ ἐμπεσόντα εἰς ὕδωρ καὶ δύνασαι αὐτῷ βοηθῆσαι, χάλασον αὐτῷ τὴν ῥάβδον καὶ ἕλκυσον αὐτόν. Καὶ ἐὰν μὴ δυνηθῇς ἑλκύσαι αὐτόν, κατάλιπε αὐτῷ τὴν ῥάβδον σου. Ἐὰν δὲ αὐτῷ δώσῃς τὴν χεῖρα σου καὶ μὴ δυνηθῇς ἑλκύσαι αὐτόν, ἕλκει σε αὐτὸς κάτω καὶ ἀμφότεροι ἀποθανεῖσθε. Τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν πρὸς τοὺς ἐμβάλλοντας ἑαυτοὺς βοηθῆσαι τινὶ ἐν πειρασμοῖς ὑπὲρ τὸ μέτρον ἑαυτῶν."

"485. Εἶπεν γέρων· Οὐδέποτε προέβην βῆμα ποδός, εἰ μὴ ἔμαθον ποῦ ἔθηκα τὸν πόδα μου, ἀλλ᾿ εἰστήκειν κατανοῶν καὶ ὅλως μὴ ἐνδιδούς, ἄχρις ἂν ὁ Θεὸς ὡδήγησέν με."

"485 bis. Εἷπε γέρων· Ἢ φεύγων φεῦγε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἢ ἔμπαιζον τῷ κόσμῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, μωρὸν σεαυτὸν ποιῶν."

"496. Ποτὲ κακούργων ἐπιστάντων τινὶ γέροντι ἔθηκεν αὐτοῖς νιπτῆρα καὶ ἠξίου τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν νίπτειν, κἀκεῖνοι αἰδεσθέντες ἤρξαντο μετανοεῖν."

"498. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ὁ ἐπαινῶν μοναχὸν παραδίδει αὐτὸν τῷ Σατανᾷ."

"511. Εἶπεν γέρων· Οὐαὶ τῷ ἔξω ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔσω, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐαὶ τῷ ἔσω ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔξω. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, ὅτι ὁ κοσμικὸς εὑρίσκει λαβὴν κατὰ ἡσυχάζοντος ἢ ἀναχωροῦντος, τοῦτο πτώσις καὶ κρίσις τοῦ πάσχοντος τὴν λαβήν."

"534. Εἶπεν πάλιν· Ἐὰν ἴδῃς τινὰ γελῶντα ἢ ἐσθίοντα πολλά, μὴ κρίνῃς αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εἰπέ ὅτι μακάριος ἐστὶν οὗτος, ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ἔχει καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ χαίρεται ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ."

"546. Ἀνδρὶ ἁγίῳ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν ὥραν μέλλοντι τελευτᾶν ἐπιστὰς ὁ Σατανᾶς λέγει αὐτῷ· Σὺ ἐξήλησάς με. Καὶ λέγει ὁ γέρων· Οὐκ οἶδα ἀκμήν. Ἴδε ἕως πόσου ἔνιφαν οἱ πατέρες μὴ καυχᾶσθαι ἔν τινι πράγματι."

"554. Γέρων τις κατέλαβεν ἐν Σκήτει λῃστὰς συλοῦντας τὴν κέλλαν αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ταχύνατε [f. 294r] πρὸ τοῦ ἔλθωσιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ κωλύσωσί με πληρῶσαι τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ εἰπόντος· ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰ σὰ μὴ ἀπαίτει."

"559. Εἶπεν πάλιν· Ὥσπερ ὁ νεκρὸς οὐκ ἐσθίει, οὕτως ὁ ταπεινόφρων οὐ δύναται κρῖναι ἄνθρωπον, κἂν ἴδῃ αὐτὸν προσκυνοῦντα εἰδώλοις."

"573. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ἐὰν κάθῃ ἐν ἐρήμῳ ἡσυχάζων, μὴ λογίζου ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὡς μέγα τὶ ποιῶν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἔχε ἑαυτὸν ὡς κύνα ἐξορισθέντα ἀπὸ ὄχλου καὶ δεδεμένον διὰ τὸ δάκνειν καὶ ἐπιχειρεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις."

"578. Εἶπεν πάλιν· Ἄνθρωπος γευσάμενος τῆς γλυκύτητος τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης βαρεῖται καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ ἱμάτιον ὃ φορεῖ, καὶ εἰς τὸ βαυκάλιον τοῦ ὕδατος· ὁ γὰρ νοῦς αὐτοῦ λοιπὸν ἀλλαχοῦ ἀδολεσχεῖ."

"592.6. Ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς περί τινος μισοῦντος σε [f. 303r] καὶ λοιδοροῦντος, πέμψον ἢ δὸς αὐτῷ μικρὰν εὐλογίαν κατὰ τὴν δύναμίν σου, ἵνα ἔχεις παρρησίαν εἰπεῖν ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως· Ἄφες ἡμῖν, δέσποτα, τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν."

"592.11. Ἐὰν κτήσῃ βιβλίον, μὴ κοσμίσῃς τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ κτήσῃ ἅπλωμα πολύτιμον ἐν τῷ προσκυνήματί σου."

"592.51. Ἐὰν εἰσὶν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ὅπου οἰκεῖς μνήματα, ἀνέρχου συνεχῶς καὶ κατανόει τοὺς κειμένους ἐκεῖ, μάλιστα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ πολέμου τῆς σαρκός. Καὶ ὅταν μάθῃς ὅτι ἀδελφὸς ὑπάγει πρὸς Κύριον, πορεύου καὶ παράμεινον ἐκεῖ, ὅπως θεάσῃ πῶς ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦ σώματος χωρίζεται."

"607bis (S and V). Ἄλλος κακούργων αὐτῷ ἐπιστάντων νιπτῆρα προσέφερε καὶ ἠξίου τοὺς πόδας αὐτῷ νίπτειν κἀκεῖνοι αἰδεσθέντες μετέβαλον τὸν τρόπον."

"613. Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε γέροντα λέγων· Καλὸν τὸ παραβάλλειν γέρουσιν ἢ τὸ ἡσυχάζειν; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Τὸ παραβάλλειν τοῖς γέρουσιν ἦν ὁ κανὼν τῶν ἀρχαίων πατέρων."

"624. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος οἰκῆσαι κατὰ μόνας; Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Ὁ ἀθλητὴς ἐὰν μὴ πυκτεύσῃ μετὰ πολλῶν, οὐ δύναται μαθεῖν τὴν τέχνην τῆς νίκης, ἵνα οὗτως δυνηθῇ μετὰ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου μονομαχῆσαι. Οὕτως καὶ ὁ μοναχός, ἐὰν μὴ παιδευθῇ μετὰ ἀδελφῶν και μάθῃ τὴν τῶν λογισμῶν τέχνην, οὐ δύναται οἰκῆσαι κατὰ μόνας, οὐδὲ ἀντιστῆναι τοῖς λογισμοῖς."

"625. Εἶπεν γέρων· Δὸς πρόθεσιν καὶ λαμβάνεις δύναμιν."

"629. Διηγήσατο μαθητὴς μεγάλου γέροντος περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι ποτὲ γενομένης τῆς ἐνάτης ὥρας ἐπείνασε καὶ ἠθέλησε γεύσασθαι. Καὶ θέντες τὴν τράπεζαν ἔστημεν εἰς εὐχὴν καὶ ἐψάλλομεν δύο ψαλμούς. Καὶ ἤρξατο ὁ γέρων λέγειν1 ἀπὸ στήθους καὶ ἐγένετο ἑσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωῒ καὶ ἐγένετο3 ὥρα ἐνάτη καὶ οὕτως κατέπαυσεν. Ὁ γὰρ νοῦς αὐτοῦ ἄνω ἐθεώρει μυστήρια."

"663. Ἀδελφός τις ἀπῆλθεν ἀγοράσαι λινάρια ἀπὸ χήρας τινὸς [V f.274r] καὶ ὡς πωλεῖ5 αὐτῷ6 ἀνεστέναξε. Λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ἀδελφός· Τί ἔχεις; Λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ χήρα· Ὁ Θεὸς ἔπεμψέ σε σήμερον οἰκονομῆσαι8 τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου καὶ ὀρφανούς μου. Καὶ ὡς ἤκουσεν ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐλυπήθη καὶ ἔλαβε λινάρια ἐκ τοῦ πλαγίου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔρριψεν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τῆς χήρας, καὶ οὕτως ἐποίησε πρὸς αὐτὴν χάριν."

"664. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Τί ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ μοναχοῦ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Στόμα ἀληθινόν [f.311v], σῶμα ἅγιον, καρδία καθαρά."

"665. Ἔλεγε γέρων ὅτι οἱ πατέρες τῇ ἀποτομίᾳ εἰσῆλθον ἔσω· ἡμεῖς δέ, ἐὰν δυνηθῶμεν, τῇ χρηστότητι εἰσέλθομεν."

"672. Ἔλεγον περὶ τῶν Σκητιωτῶν ὅτι, εἰ κατελάμβανέ τις τὴν ἀρετὴν αὐτῶν, οὐκέτι ὡς ἀρετὴν εἶχον αὐτήν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἁμαρτίαν."

"673. Εἶπε γέρων· Τὸ ἀνθρώπινον φρόνημα πᾶσαν τὴν πιότητα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναιρεῖ καὶ ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν ξηρόν."

"684. Εἶπε γέρων· Ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου ὧν πράττω, ἐννοῶ εἰς τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ τί τέξεται, εἴτε ἐν τοῖς λογισμοῖς, εἴτε ἐν ταῖς πράξεσιν."

"700. Εἶπε γέρων· Θέλω διδαχθῆναι ἢ διδάξαι."

"701. Εἶπε πάλιν· Μὴ δίδασκε πρὸ καιροῦ, εἰ δὲ μὴ ὅλον τὸν χρόνον σου ἔσῃ ἐλαττούμενος ἐν συνέσει."

"One of the monks was apprised of the death of [his] father. To the person who reported this he said: ‘Stop your blaspheming: my father is immortal.’"

"The same [elder] said: ‘If you are staying somewhere and you see some folk living comfortably, do not have anything to do with them. But if there be another person who is poor, have to do with him as long as he has no bread and you shall experience repose.’"

"An elder was asked: ‘Why do you never become faint-hearted?’ ‘Because each day I expect to die’, he replied."

"Some elders said: ‘When Moses entered into the cloud he was speaking with God: when he came out of the cloud, with folk. So it is with the monk: when he is in his cell, he is speaking with God, but when he comes out of his cell he is among demons.’"

"An elder said: ‘The monk ought not to enquire how this one is or how that one is doing; for by asking questions he is turned aside from prayer, turned toward distractions and much talking. So, nothing is better than keeping quiet.’"

"Abba Moses used to address those who lived alone, saying: ‘There are four principal observances: keeping quiet, observing the commandments of God, humbling oneself, and oppression by poverty. But these three virtues a man acquires with difficulty: that is, by grieving all the time, ever being mindful of his own sins, and always confronting his eyes with death.’"

"A brother enquired of an elder: ‘Do you think it is a good thing to be highly regarded among people?’ He replied: ‘Their regard is of no worth. Run away rather than wish to be highly regarded by your brother.’"

"An elder said: ‘The work of a monk is to see his logismoi from afar.’"

"An elder said: ‘A monk ought to be courageous and single-hearted – then he will be saved.’"

"An elder said: ‘To be humble and self-deprecatory is like a protective wall for a monk.’"

"Abba Moses gave the following seven precepts to Abba Poemen which, if observed, will lead to salvation for anybody, whether in a coenobion or in solitude or in the world itself: 1. In the first place, as it is written a man must love God with all your heart and with all your mind. 2. A man must love his neighbour as himself. 3. A man must do to death all evil in him. 4. A man must not judge his brother in any dispute. 5. A man must do no evil to another person. 6. Before departing this life, a man must cleanse himself of every fault of mind or body. 7. A man must always be of a humble and contrite heart. This can be achieved by anyone who thinks of his own sins all the time and not of his neighbour’s, with the assistance of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen."

"Abba Sisoes showed us about Abba Antony and said, ‘So then, in the cave of a lion a fox dwells.’"

"An elder said, ‘Do not do anything without prayer, and afterwards you will not be sorry.’"

"A brother asked an elder, ‘If I am in a beautiful place and the time of worship has arrived, should I return?’ The elder said to him, ‘Who is it that, when he remembers wealth, returns to poverty?’"

"An elder was asked: ‘Why am I fearful on going into the desert?’ He said: ‘Because you think yourself alone, and you do not see God with you.’"

"Father Makar [Macarius] said to the young brother Zak’arē [Zacharaeus]: ‘What is the task of the solitary?’ And Zak’arē said: ‘To give thanks for temptations and to be silent.’ [in hêsychia]"

"An elder said: ‘If you wish to be known to God, be unknown to mankind.’"

"Abba Elijah was asked: ‘How will we be saved these days?’ He replied: ‘We will be saved through each of us having no regard for himself.’"

"A brother asked an elder and said to him: ‘Do you wish me to meditate on what people read in the Scriptures when I go to church?’ The elder said to him: ‘You are going to the source of life.’"

"I heard that my father, Abba Paphnutius, said: ‘If a man does not change the skin of his face [to be] as the sole of his foot, he cannot be a monk at all.’"

"I heard that the great Abba Agathon used to say: ‘All the time God was showing me the way that I was to take.’"

"Abba Sisoes of Petra, [a disciple] of Abba Antony, said: ‘If a man does good, he will moor his boat in a good port.’"

"Hell is full of good meanings and wishings."

"Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works."

"[T]he road to hell is paved with adverbs."

"Hell is paved with good intentions."

"Hell is paved with infants' skulls."

"L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs."

"Hell is paved with priests' skulls."

"Do not be troubled by St. Bernard's saying that "Hell is full of good intentions and wills.""

"Hell is paved with the skulls of great scholars, and paled in with the bones of great men."

"El infierno es lleno de buenas intenciones."

"It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also."

"Die Helle ist mit Mönchskappen, Pfaffenfalten, und Pickelhauben gepflastert."

"There is something anachronistic about the very idea of aphorisms or maxims. Contemporary culture isn’t stately enough, or stable enough, to support them."

"Aphorism or maxim, let us remember that this wisdom of life is the true salt of literature; that those books, at least in prose, are most nourishing which are most richly stored with it; and that is one of the great objects, apart from the mere acquisition of knowledge, which men ought to seek in the reading of books."

"Maxim... Generally any simple and memorable rule or guide for living; for example, 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'. Tennyson speaks of 'a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter's heart (Locksley Hall), and maxims have generally been associated with a 'folksy' or 'copy-book' approach to morality."

"He doubly benefits the needy who gives quickly."

"Bitter for a free man is the bondage of debt."

"If your parent is just, revere him; if not, bear with him."

"Audacity augments courage; hesitation, fear."

"A good reputation is more valuable than money."

"He who helps the guilty, shares the crime."

"Poverty is the lack of many things, but avarice is the lack of all things."

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

"The judge is condemned when the guilty is absolved."

"It is a bad plan that admits of no modification."

"Pardon one offence and you encourage the commission of many."

"Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage."

"Penitence follows hasty decisions."

"Confession of our faults is the next thing to innocence."

"Pride has more part than kindness in the remonstrances we make to those who make mistakes; and we do not take them back so much to correct them as to persuade them that we are exempt from them."

"Those who focus too much on small things usually become incapable of big ones."

"A clever man must regulate the rank of his interests and lead them each in his order."

"Our greed often troubles him by making us run to so many things at once that, in order to desire too much the less important, we miss the most important."

"The love of justice is in most men only the fear of suffering injustice."

"We are so used to disguising ourselves from others that we finally disguise ourselves from ourselves."

"As it is the character of great minds to make many things heard in a few words, small minds, on the contrary, have the gift of speaking a lot, and of saying nothing."

"The world rewards the appearances of merit more often than merit itself."

"It is better to use our minds to endure the misfortunes that happen to us than to foresee those that may happen to us."

"When vices leave us, we pride ourselves on the belief that it is we who are leaving them."

"The desire to appear skillful often prevents one from becoming so."

"Happy people hardly correct themselves; they always believe they are right when fortune supports their bad behavior."

"True eloquence is saying all you need to do, and only saying what you need to do."

"The readiness to believe evil without having examined it enough is an effect of pride and laziness. We want to find the culprits; and we don't want to bother looking at the crimes."

"Mediocre minds usually condemn anything that is beyond their reach."

"Of all our faults, the one we are most easily in agreement with is laziness; we are persuaded that it is attached to all the peaceful virtues and that, without entirely destroying the others, it only suspends their functions."

"We try to make virtues out of the faults we have no wish to correct."

"Only those with real strength of character can have real gentleness; those who look gentle are usually merely weak"

"There are people so light and frivolous that they are as far removed from having real flaws as they are solid qualities."

"How can a man come to know himself? Never by thinking, but by doing. Try to do your duty, and you will know at once what you are worth. But what is your duty? The claims of the day."

"The longer I live, the more it grieves me to see man, who occupies his supreme place for the very purpose of imposing his will upon nature, and freeing himself and his from an outrageous necessity,—to see him taken up with some false notion, and doing just the opposite of what he wants to do; and then, because the whole bent of his mind is spoilt, bungling miserably over everything."

"Be genuine and strenuous; earn for yourself, and look for, grace from those in high places; from the powerful, favour; from the active and the good, advancement; from the many, affection; from the individual, love."

"Every man must think after his own fashion; for on his own path he finds a truth, or a kind of truth, which helps him through life. But he must not give himself the rein; he must control himself; mere naked instinct does not become him."

"Our plans and designs should be so perfect in truth and beauty, that in touching them the world could only mar. We should thus have the advantage of setting right what is wrong, and restoring what is destroyed."

"General ideas and great conceit are always in a fair way to bring about terrible misfortune."

"The most insignificant man can be complete if he works within the limits of his capacities, innate or acquired; but even fine talents can be obscured, neutralised, and destroyed by lack of this indispensable requirement of symmetry. This is a mischief which will often occur in modern times; for who will be able to come up to the claims of an age so full and intense as this, and one too that moves so rapidly?"

"It is a great error to take oneself for more than one is, or for less than one is worth."

"Love of truth shows itself in this, that a man knows how to find and value the good in everything."

"Character calls forth character."

"If I am to listen to another man's opinion, it must be expressed positively. Of things problematical I have enough in myself."

"Everything that frees our spirit without giving us control of ourselves is ruinous."

"A man is really alive only when he delights in the good-will of others."

"Piety is not an end, but a means: a means of attaining the highest culture by the purest tranquillity of soul. Hence it may be observed that those who set up piety as an end and object are mostly hypocrites."

"When a man is old he must do more than when he was young."

"The greatest piece of good fortune is that which corrects our deficiencies and redeems our mistakes."

"Whoso is content with pure experience and acts upon it has enough of truth. The growing child is wise in this sense."

"When a man asks too much and delights in complication, he is exposed to perplexity."

"There is no piece of foolishness but it can be corrected by intelligence or accident; no piece of wisdom but it can miscarry by lack of intelligence or by accident."

"Every great idea is a tyrant when it first appears; hence the advantages which it produces change all too quickly into disadvantages. It is possible, then, to defend and praise any institution that exists, if its beginnings are brought to remembrance, and it is shown that everything which was true of it at the beginning is true of it still."

"There are two powers that make for peace: what is right, and what is fitting."

"If a man is to achieve all that is asked of him, he must take himself for more than he is, and as long as he does not carry it to an absurd length, we willingly put up with it."

"Work makes companionship."

"Wisdom lies only in truth."

"Generosity wins favour for every one, especially when it is accompanied by modesty."

"Not everywhere where there is water, are there frogs; but where you have frogs, there you will find water."

"Error is quite right as long as we are young, but we must not carry it on with us into our old age."

"Whims and eccentricities that grow stale are all useless, rank nonsense."

"The man who is up and doing should see to it that what he does is right. Whether or not right is done, is a matter which should not trouble him."

"No nation gains the power of judgment except it can pass judgment on itself. But to attain this great privilege takes a very long time."

"Certain minds must be allowed their peculiarities."

"It is said that vain self-praise stinks in the nostrils. That may be so; but for the kind of smell which comes from unjust blame by others the public has no nose at all."

"Dirt glitters as long as the sun shines."

"Real obscurantism is not to hinder the spread of what is true, clear, and useful, but to bring into vogue what is false."

"The finest achievement for a man of thought is to have fathomed what may be fathomed, and quietly to revere the unfathomable."

"Let us remember how great the ancients were; and especially how the Socratic school holds up to us the source and standard of all life and action, and bids us not indulge in empty speculation, but live and do."

"In science it is a service of the highest merit to seek out those fragmentary truths attained by the ancients, and to develop them further."

"The century advances; but every individual begins anew."

"It is very seldom that we satisfy ourselves; all the more consoling is it to have satisfied others."

"Ngozi ya chui uzuri kwa macho, ndani adui."

"Dhamiri safi ni tandiko laini."

"Dua la kuku halimpati mwewe."

"Fadhila ya punda ni mateke."

"Fuata nyuki ule asali."

"Haraka haraka haina baraka."

"Hisani haiozi."

"Jogoo mtenda mema kaliwa."

"Kibarua hulima juani, tajiri hulia kivulini."

"Msinji ukiinama hauna nguvu; usiushtaki ukuta ukianguka."

"Ukijifanya asali nzi wote watakula."

"Usisafirie nyota ya mwenzio."

"Pole pole ndio mwendo."

"Mtu ni watu."

"Those who are absent are always wrong."

"A brave man dies once, a coward a thousand times."

"The poorest man in this world is not the one without money but the one without people."

"The man is the woman’s honour"

"Naɣ'so ŋun ka zuli, Naawuni n-kariti o zɔhi"

"Dabiɛm kani kabo n zibiyuŋ"

"Anche se una piroga resta a lungo nel fiume non diventerà mai un coccodrillo."

"La spina nella carne di un'altra persona è più facile a levarla."

"Tutto ha una fine, tranne la banana che ne ha due."

"A e nne modiga"

"English Literal translation: Let it drop (said by one who settles a quarrel between two contending parties)"

"Tshekisho Plaatje, Solomon (1916).Sechuana Proverbs with Literal Translations and Their European Equivalents"

"For þe helder mon me mai of-riden, Betere þenne of-reden."

"If you do not protect your own honor, the crows will peck at your flesh."

"The dog loves the one who beats it."

"Burning outside the fire is worse than burning inside [the fire]."

"Let the rich man’s son speak, even though he is a dumb. When evaluating a rich man, don’t ask how much money he has; just ask when he got it."

"At three words, he is at the top of the house."

"Let him that beginneth the song make an end."

"A fig for him. Let him doe his worst."

"The Crosse is the ladder of heaven."

"Desires are nourished by delay."

"Farre folke fare best."

"It is better never to begin, than never to make an end."

"A man shall never bee enriched by envie."

"Experience the mother of wisedome."

"The better workeman the worser husband."

"Glowing coales sparkle often."

"Money maketh a man."

"Musicke is the eie of the eare."

"To promise, and to give nought, is to comfort a foole."

"He that seeketh, findeth."

"It is a strange beast that hath neither head nor taile."

"Good wine engendreth good blood."

"A wrangler never wanteth words."