his beast to the end of his
journey.

XXXVIII

Nothing is so good for an ignorant man as silence, and if he knew this
he would no longer be ignorant:--When unadorned with the grace of
eloquence it is wise to keep watch over the tongue in the mouth. The
tongue, by abuse, renders a man contemptible; levity in a nut is a sign
of its being empty. A fool was undertaking the instruction of an ass,
and had devoted his whole time to this occupation. A wise man said to
him: "What art thou endeavoring to do? In this vain attempt dread the
reproof of the censorious! A brute can never learn speech from thee; do
thou learn silence from him." That man who reflects not before he speaks
will only make all the more improper answer. Either like a man arrange
thy speech with judgment, or like a brute sit silent.

XXXIX

Whoever shall argue with one more learned than himself that others may
take him for a wise man, only confirms them in his being a fool:--"When
a person superior to what thou art engages thee in conversation do not
contradict him, though thou may'st know better."

XL

He can see no good who will associate with the wicked:--Were an angel
from heaven to associate with a demon, he would learn his brutality,
perfidy, and hypocrisy. Virtue thou never canst learn of the vicious; it
is not the wolf's occupation to mend skins, but to tear them.

XLI

Expose not the secret failings of mankind, otherwise you must verily
bring scandal upon them and distrust upon yourself.

XLII

Whoever acquires knowledge and does not practise it resembles him who
ploughs his land and leaves it unsown.

* * * * *

XLVI

It is not every man that has a handsome physical exterior that has a
good moral character; for the faculty of business or virtue resides in
the heart and not in the skin. Thou canst in one day ascertain the
intellectual faculties of a man, and what proficiency he has made in his
degrees of knowledge; but be not secure of his mind, nor foolishly sure,
for it may take years to detect the innate baseness of the heart.

XLVII

Whoever contends with the great sheds his own blood:--Thou contemplatest
thyself as a mighty great man; and they have truly remarked that the
squinter sees double. Thou who canst in play butt with a ram must soon
find thyself with a broken pate.

XLVIII

To grapple with a lion, or to box against a naked scimitar, are not the
acts of the prudent:-