Proverbs 29

In my view, the sketch of a soul which yearns to preserve the blessed tradition without losing a single drop runs something like this: “When a man loves wisdom, his father’s heart will be warmed.” Wells which are constantly baled out provide a clearer water; wells which no one draws from turn to rottenness. Use keeps iron brighter; disuse produces rust in it. In general, exercise produces fitness in souls and bodies.

The Stromata Book 1

The man who speaks with flattering and deceitful words to his friend, etc. He who praises his neighbor with deceitful words, indeed sets traps for him, so that by the danger of cautious work, as he becomes more careless with words, he may fall into them. But let us see whether the nets of the deceitful ensnare him whose steps they are spread before, or rather encompass the one who spreads them. It follows:

Commentary on Proverbs

The safety of this method was its artificiality; between the King and his public image there was really no relation. But the moderns have invented a much subtler and more poisonous kind of eulogy. The modern method is to take the prince or rich man, to give a credible picture of his type of personality, as that he is business-like, or a sportsman, or fond of art, or convivial, or reserved; and then enormously exaggerate the value and importance of these natural qualities. ... The old flatterer took for granted that the King was an ordinary man, and set to work to make him out extraordinary. The newer and cleverer flatterer takes for granted that he is extraordinary, and that therefore even ordinary things about him will be of interest.

All Things Considered, The Worship of the Wealthy (1908)

The trap will ensnare the sinful and unjust man, etc. Therefore, the trap of sinners does not harm the just man, even if it destroys him bodily. But the snares they prepare for their neighbors damn the reprobates themselves forever; while the just rejoice, praising the right judgment of the Creator either for their own deliverance or for the ruin of the wicked. Finally, the ancient edition clearly stated the conclusion of the previous verse as, The nets encircle his own feet. For from the ambiguous Greek, which is αὐτοῦ, it can be interpreted either way: for he who digs a pit for his neighbor will fall into it himself, as said elsewhere.

Commentary on Proverbs

A wise man contending with a fool, etc. A wise teacher, if he contends with an unbelieving and obstinate man, whether he speaks of the torments of the reprobates or the joys of the good, labors in vain against the senseless; whether he advises the coverings of repentance, or speaks of the rewards of good work, he is not heard by the fool. Hence the apostles also said to the Jews, We lamented to you, and you did not mourn; we sang to you, and you did not dance (Matt. XII).

Commentary on Proverbs

It behooves us, therefore, to contain every movement of wrath and to temper it with discretion as our guide lest, overcome with rage, we be swept up into what is condemned by Solomon: “The wicked person expends his anger all at once, but the wise person dispenses it gradually.” That is to say, in the heat of his anger the fool is inflamed to revenge himself, but by mature deliberation and moderation the wise person slowly diminishes and releases his. .

We ought then to restrain every movement of anger and moderate it under the direction of discretion, that we may not by blind rage be hurried into that which is condemned by Solomon: “The wicked man expends all his anger, but the wise man dispenses it bit by bit.” That is to say, a fool is inflamed by the passion of his anger to avenge himself; but a wise man, by the maturity of his reflection and moderation, diminishes it little by little and gets rid of it.

Conference 16:27

Let the impatient hear what is said again through Solomon; A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man putteth it off, and reserves it until afterwards. For one is so driven by the impulse of impatience as to utter forth the whole mind, which the perturbation within throws out the more quickly for this reason, that no discipline of wisdom fences it round. But the wise man puts it off, and reserves it till afterwards. For, when injured, he desires not to avenge himself at the present time, because in his tolerance he even wishes that men should be spared; but yet he is not ignorant that all things are righteously avenged at the last judgment.

Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 9

The fool utters all his spirit. Driven by impatience, the whole spirit is uttered outwardly. It is thus more quickly expelled by disturbance because no inner discipline of wisdom restrains it.

Commentary on Proverbs

But the wise man defers and reserves it for the future. For when harmed, he does not desire to avenge himself at present, because even while suffering, he chooses to endure, yet he does not ignore that everything will be avenged in the final judgment. The ancient translation has this passage thus: The impious man utters all his anger, but the wise man measures it out by parts, because surely the fool is inflamed by disturbance for his own vengeance; the wise man, however, gradually diminishes and expels it with the maturity of advice and moderation.

Commentary on Proverbs

The poor man and creditor meet each other, etc. The poor man is the humble listener of the word of God; the creditor, however, is he who commits the money of the same word by preaching to him; they meet each other when they converge into the same grace of piety. And God is the illuminator of both, because neither that one could preach without divine piety, nor could this one believe. Indeed, the truthful sentence of Truth remains, which says, "Without me, you can do nothing" (John 15).

Commentary on Proverbs

The king who judges the poor in truth, etc. And the Psalmist about Christ the king, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom" (Psalm 45).

Commentary on Proverbs

The rod and reproof give wisdom, etc. About this rod, the Apostle to the Corinthians: "Do you want me to come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?" (1 Corinthians 4). For the child, whom he frequently admonishes to be corrected and instructed, is the people of God, who, if not chastised by the constant admonitions and rebukes of the priests, generates confusion for the Church, by those outside detracting from the religion of the Christian faith. Hence, it is rightly added:

Commentary on Proverbs

When prophecy fails, the people will be scattered, etc. Because indeed, when priestly instruction ceases, the discipline of the divine law will immediately dissolve, for the people ought to reach the rewards of blessedness.

Commentary on Proverbs

Many, for example, avowedly followed Cecil Rhodes because he had a vision. They might as well have followed him because he had a nose; a man without some kind of dream of perfection is quite as much of a monstrosity as a noseless man. People say of such a figure, in almost feverish whispers, “He knows his own mind,” which is exactly like saying in equally feverish whispers, “He blows his own nose.” Human nature simply cannot subsist without a hope and aim of some kind; as the sanity of the Old Testament truly said, where there is no vision the people perisheth. But it is precisely because an ideal is necessary to man that the man without ideals is in permanent danger of fanaticism. There is nothing which is so likely to leave a man open to the sudden and irresistible inroad of an unbalanced vision as the cultivation of business habits. All of us know angular business men who think that the earth is flat, or that Mr. Kruger was at the head of a great military despotism, or that men are graminivorous, or that Bacon wrote Shakespeare. Religious and philosophical beliefs are, indeed, as dangerous as fire, and nothing can take from them that beauty of danger. But there is only one way of really guarding ourselves against the excessive danger of them, and that is to be steeped in philosophy and soaked in religion.

Heretics, Ch. 20: Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy (1905)

But there is indeed a much deeper objection to this theory of the two incompatible excellences of antiquity and popularity. For the truth is that it has been almost entirely the antiquities that have normally interested the populace; and it has been almost entirely the populace who have systematically preserved the antiquities. The Oldest Inhabitant has always been a clodhopper; I have never heard of his being a gentleman. It is the peasants who preserve all traditions of the sites of battles or the building of churches. It is they who remember, so far as any one remembers, the glimpses of fairies or the graver wonders of saints. In the classes above them the supernatural has been slain by the supercilious. That is a true and tremendous text in Scripture which says that “where there is no vision the people perish.” But it is equally true in practice that where there is no people the visions perish.

Alarms and Discursions, The Philosophy of Sight-seeing (1910)

In saying that “the servant will not be corrected by words,” [Solomon] did not order him to be left to himself but implied an admonition as to the means whereby he ought to be corrected. Otherwise he would not have said, “He will not be corrected by words,” but without any qualification, “He will not be corrected.” For in another place he says that not only the servant but also the undisciplined son must be corrected with stripes, and that with great fruits as the result. For he says, “You shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell,” and elsewhere he says, “He that spares the rod hates his own son.”

The Correction of the Donatists 6:21

In all things be “quick to listen and slow to speak” lest the remark of Solomon be fulfilled in you: “If you see a man too ready of speech, know that a fool has more hope than he.” And never dare to teach someone what you have not practiced yourself.

Conference 14:9

Do you see a man quick to speak, etc. Indeed, stupidity is a grave vice, but verbosity is not lighter. For it often happens that a dull person, even one ignorant of letters, more quickly accepts the words of salutary reproof than one who, endowed with an abundance of speech, arrogantly prefers to spout what he knows or thinks he knows, rather than to listen to the words of the wise.

Commentary on Proverbs

Formed, surrounded and coddled by delicacies and pleasures since its infancy, Israel, in spite of the [prefigured] images of the cross, “grew fat, became gross and recalcitrant,” so that, finally, captivity imprisoned it among the Gentiles. “The one who is pampered in his infancy will be handed over to servitude.”

Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 38

He who delicately nurtures his servant from youth, etc. He who delicately nurtures his body from youth, which he ought to have subjugated to the soul, will feel this lascivious and indomitable spirit when he reaches the years of adolescence. Another translation beautifully has this verse, "He who is indulged from youth will be a servant; in the end, however, he will be afflicted." For indeed, he who regrets his evils too late within himself, remembering that he was unwilling in his still tender age to restrain his pleasures by the rule of the prudent.

Commentary on Proverbs

An irascible man provokes fights, etc. The door to all vices is anger, which, if closed, will allow quiet for virtues within; but if opened, the mind will be armed for every crime.

Commentary on Proverbs

Pride and arrogance have subverted many. Through pride Adam went forth from paradise, and dust became the serpent’s meat. Through pride Cain killed his brother and became a trembler and a straggler on the earth. And Ham, because he was uplifted and mocked his father, became accursed and a servant of servants to his brothers. Because of his pride Esau lost the birthright of his primogeniture; and Pharaoh, because he was hardened and uplifted, was drowned in the Red Sea, he and his host. And the sons of Eli the priest, because they were lifted up against the people, were deposed from the priesthood of the Holy One. Goliath the Philistine, because of his arrogance against David, was humbled and put to shame, and fell by his pride. And upon Abimelech the son of Gideon, who was lifted up against his brothers and slew them, came the curse of Jotham his brother. Absalom, who was uplifted and seized the kingdom, fell and was humbled before the servants of David; and Adonijah the son of Haggith, who stole the kingdom, neither retained it nor prospered by his pride. As for Ahithophel the counselor of iniquities, his pride was humbled by his own hands; and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, who made division among the people, became an evil memory in Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri was overcome by covetousness in the inheritance of Jezreel and received retributions. To the king of Edom, who was lifted up against Ahab, there was not found anyone that should bind or that should loose. And Haman, who was lifted up against Mordecai, received retribution on the gallows, he and his sons. The men of Babylon who accused Daniel had their bones crushed by lions. And Judas, who betrayed our Savior, fell into the sea with a millstone about his neck. These all were humbled by their pride, as it was written, “The pride of a man shall humble him, and to him who is humble in spirit honor shall be increased.”

Demonstrations 14:10

Give me someone professing perpetual continence, and free from these and all similar vices and blemishes of conduct. For her I fear pride; for her I dread the swelling of self-conceit from so great a blessing. The more there is in her from which she finds self-complacence, the more I fear lest by pleasing herself she will displease him who “resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

On Holy Virginity 34

That we ourselves may become worthy of following in his footsteps and ascending to heaven, let us in the meantime become humble on earth for our own good, always mindful that, as Solomon says, “Humiliation follows the proud, and honor follows the humble in spirit.”

Homilies on the Gospels 2:15

He who associates with a thief hates his own soul, etc. Wisdom teaches its helper not only to abstain from sins but also to refrain from the company of sinners, lest he should deserve to hear from the strict judge, "If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and with adulterers, you placed your portion" (Psalm 50). For not only the thief himself but also he who is conscious of theft is liable, who, when the owner who lost the money seeks it, does not want to inform him, though he can. But lest anyone pleads fear of a more powerful person and claims he cannot separate from the company of thieves or reveal what he knows, it is openly added:

Commentary on Proverbs

He who fears man will quickly fall, etc. To whom fits the gospel saying, "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul" (Matthew 10).

Commentary on Proverbs

[On the fear of man as a snare — specifically the terror of being left outside the "Inner Ring" of insiders, which Lewis identifies as one of the most dominant elements in human life]

In all men's lives at certain periods, and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside. Often the desire conceals itself so well that we hardly recognize the pleasures of fruition. Men tell not only their wives but themselves that it is a hardship to stay late at the office or the school on some bit of important extra work which they have been let in for because they and So-and-so and the two others are the only people left in the place who really know how things are run. But it is not quite true. It is a terrible bore, of course, when old Fatty Smithson draws you aside and whispers "Look here, we've got to get you in on this examination somehow" or "Charles and I saw at once that you've got to be on this committee". A terrible bore ... ah, but how much more terrible if you were left out! It is tiring and unhealthy to lose your Saturday afternoons: but to have them free because you don't matter, that is much worse. ... I wonder whether, in ages of promiscuity, many a virginity has not been lost less in obedience to Venus than in obedience to the lure of the caucus. For of course, when promiscuity is the fashion, the chaste are outsiders. They are ignorant of something that other people know. They are uninitiated. And as for lighter matters, the number who first smoked or first got drunk for a similar reason is probably very large.

The Inner Ring, from Transposition and Other Addresses

It behooves us, therefore, to contain every movement of wrath and to temper it with discretion as our guide lest, overcome with rage, we be swept up into what is condemned by Solomon: “The wicked person expends his anger all at once, but the wise person dispenses it gradually.” That is to say, in the heat of his anger the fool is inflamed to revenge himself, but by mature deliberation and moderation the wise person slowly diminishes and releases his. .

We ought then to restrain every movement of anger and moderate it under the direction of discretion, that we may not by blind rage be hurried into that which is condemned by Solomon: “The wicked man expends all his anger, but the wise man dispenses it bit by bit.” That is to say, a fool is inflamed by the passion of his anger to avenge himself; but a wise man, by the maturity of his reflection and moderation, diminishes it little by little and gets rid of it.

Conference 16:27

Let the impatient hear what is said again through Solomon; A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man putteth it off, and reserves it until afterwards. For one is so driven by the impulse of impatience as to utter forth the whole mind, which the perturbation within throws out the more quickly for this reason, that no discipline of wisdom fences it round. But the wise man puts it off, and reserves it till afterwards. For, when injured, he desires not to avenge himself at the present time, because in his tolerance he even wishes that men should be spared; but yet he is not ignorant that all things are righteously avenged at the last judgment.

Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 9

The fool utters all his spirit. Driven by impatience, the whole spirit is uttered outwardly. It is thus more quickly expelled by disturbance because no inner discipline of wisdom restrains it.

Commentary on Proverbs

But the wise man defers and reserves it for the future. For when harmed, he does not desire to avenge himself at present, because even while suffering, he chooses to endure, yet he does not ignore that everything will be avenged in the final judgment. The ancient translation has this passage thus: The impious man utters all his anger, but the wise man measures it out by parts, because surely the fool is inflamed by disturbance for his own vengeance; the wise man, however, gradually diminishes and expels it with the maturity of advice and moderation.

Commentary on Proverbs

The poor man and creditor meet each other, etc. The poor man is the humble listener of the word of God; the creditor, however, is he who commits the money of the same word by preaching to him; they meet each other when they converge into the same grace of piety. And God is the illuminator of both, because neither that one could preach without divine piety, nor could this one believe. Indeed, the truthful sentence of Truth remains, which says, "Without me, you can do nothing" (John 15).

Commentary on Proverbs

The king who judges the poor in truth, etc. And the Psalmist about Christ the king, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom" (Psalm 45).

Commentary on Proverbs

The rod and reproof give wisdom, etc. About this rod, the Apostle to the Corinthians: "Do you want me to come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?" (1 Corinthians 4). For the child, whom he frequently admonishes to be corrected and instructed, is the people of God, who, if not chastised by the constant admonitions and rebukes of the priests, generates confusion for the Church, by those outside detracting from the religion of the Christian faith. Hence, it is rightly added:

Commentary on Proverbs

When prophecy fails, the people will be scattered, etc. Because indeed, when priestly instruction ceases, the discipline of the divine law will immediately dissolve, for the people ought to reach the rewards of blessedness.

Commentary on Proverbs

Many, for example, avowedly followed Cecil Rhodes because he had a vision. They might as well have followed him because he had a nose; a man without some kind of dream of perfection is quite as much of a monstrosity as a noseless man. People say of such a figure, in almost feverish whispers, “He knows his own mind,” which is exactly like saying in equally feverish whispers, “He blows his own nose.” Human nature simply cannot subsist without a hope and aim of some kind; as the sanity of the Old Testament truly said, where there is no vision the people perisheth. But it is precisely because an ideal is necessary to man that the man without ideals is in permanent danger of fanaticism. There is nothing which is so likely to leave a man open to the sudden and irresistible inroad of an unbalanced vision as the cultivation of business habits. All of us know angular business men who think that the earth is flat, or that Mr. Kruger was at the head of a great military despotism, or that men are graminivorous, or that Bacon wrote Shakespeare. Religious and philosophical beliefs are, indeed, as dangerous as fire, and nothing can take from them that beauty of danger. But there is only one way of really guarding ourselves against the excessive danger of them, and that is to be steeped in philosophy and soaked in religion.

Heretics, Ch. 20: Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy (1905)

But there is indeed a much deeper objection to this theory of the two incompatible excellences of antiquity and popularity. For the truth is that it has been almost entirely the antiquities that have normally interested the populace; and it has been almost entirely the populace who have systematically preserved the antiquities. The Oldest Inhabitant has always been a clodhopper; I have never heard of his being a gentleman. It is the peasants who preserve all traditions of the sites of battles or the building of churches. It is they who remember, so far as any one remembers, the glimpses of fairies or the graver wonders of saints. In the classes above them the supernatural has been slain by the supercilious. That is a true and tremendous text in Scripture which says that “where there is no vision the people perish.” But it is equally true in practice that where there is no people the visions perish.

Alarms and Discursions, The Philosophy of Sight-seeing (1910)

In saying that “the servant will not be corrected by words,” [Solomon] did not order him to be left to himself but implied an admonition as to the means whereby he ought to be corrected. Otherwise he would not have said, “He will not be corrected by words,” but without any qualification, “He will not be corrected.” For in another place he says that not only the servant but also the undisciplined son must be corrected with stripes, and that with great fruits as the result. For he says, “You shall beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell,” and elsewhere he says, “He that spares the rod hates his own son.”

The Correction of the Donatists 6:21

In all things be “quick to listen and slow to speak” lest the remark of Solomon be fulfilled in you: “If you see a man too ready of speech, know that a fool has more hope than he.” And never dare to teach someone what you have not practiced yourself.

Conference 14:9

Do you see a man quick to speak, etc. Indeed, stupidity is a grave vice, but verbosity is not lighter. For it often happens that a dull person, even one ignorant of letters, more quickly accepts the words of salutary reproof than one who, endowed with an abundance of speech, arrogantly prefers to spout what he knows or thinks he knows, rather than to listen to the words of the wise.

Commentary on Proverbs

Formed, surrounded and coddled by delicacies and pleasures since its infancy, Israel, in spite of the [prefigured] images of the cross, “grew fat, became gross and recalcitrant,” so that, finally, captivity imprisoned it among the Gentiles. “The one who is pampered in his infancy will be handed over to servitude.”

Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 38

He who delicately nurtures his servant from youth, etc. He who delicately nurtures his body from youth, which he ought to have subjugated to the soul, will feel this lascivious and indomitable spirit when he reaches the years of adolescence. Another translation beautifully has this verse, "He who is indulged from youth will be a servant; in the end, however, he will be afflicted." For indeed, he who regrets his evils too late within himself, remembering that he was unwilling in his still tender age to restrain his pleasures by the rule of the prudent.

Commentary on Proverbs

An irascible man provokes fights, etc. The door to all vices is anger, which, if closed, will allow quiet for virtues within; but if opened, the mind will be armed for every crime.

Commentary on Proverbs

Pride and arrogance have subverted many. Through pride Adam went forth from paradise, and dust became the serpent’s meat. Through pride Cain killed his brother and became a trembler and a straggler on the earth. And Ham, because he was uplifted and mocked his father, became accursed and a servant of servants to his brothers. Because of his pride Esau lost the birthright of his primogeniture; and Pharaoh, because he was hardened and uplifted, was drowned in the Red Sea, he and his host. And the sons of Eli the priest, because they were lifted up against the people, were deposed from the priesthood of the Holy One. Goliath the Philistine, because of his arrogance against David, was humbled and put to shame, and fell by his pride. And upon Abimelech the son of Gideon, who was lifted up against his brothers and slew them, came the curse of Jotham his brother. Absalom, who was uplifted and seized the kingdom, fell and was humbled before the servants of David; and Adonijah the son of Haggith, who stole the kingdom, neither retained it nor prospered by his pride. As for Ahithophel the counselor of iniquities, his pride was humbled by his own hands; and Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, who made division among the people, became an evil memory in Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri was overcome by covetousness in the inheritance of Jezreel and received retributions. To the king of Edom, who was lifted up against Ahab, there was not found anyone that should bind or that should loose. And Haman, who was lifted up against Mordecai, received retribution on the gallows, he and his sons. The men of Babylon who accused Daniel had their bones crushed by lions. And Judas, who betrayed our Savior, fell into the sea with a millstone about his neck. These all were humbled by their pride, as it was written, “The pride of a man shall humble him, and to him who is humble in spirit honor shall be increased.”

Demonstrations 14:10

Give me someone professing perpetual continence, and free from these and all similar vices and blemishes of conduct. For her I fear pride; for her I dread the swelling of self-conceit from so great a blessing. The more there is in her from which she finds self-complacence, the more I fear lest by pleasing herself she will displease him who “resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

On Holy Virginity 34

That we ourselves may become worthy of following in his footsteps and ascending to heaven, let us in the meantime become humble on earth for our own good, always mindful that, as Solomon says, “Humiliation follows the proud, and honor follows the humble in spirit.”

Homilies on the Gospels 2:15

He who associates with a thief hates his own soul, etc. Wisdom teaches its helper not only to abstain from sins but also to refrain from the company of sinners, lest he should deserve to hear from the strict judge, "If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and with adulterers, you placed your portion" (Psalm 50). For not only the thief himself but also he who is conscious of theft is liable, who, when the owner who lost the money seeks it, does not want to inform him, though he can. But lest anyone pleads fear of a more powerful person and claims he cannot separate from the company of thieves or reveal what he knows, it is openly added:

Commentary on Proverbs

He who fears man will quickly fall, etc. To whom fits the gospel saying, "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul" (Matthew 10).

Commentary on Proverbs

[On the fear of man as a snare — specifically the terror of being left outside the "Inner Ring" of insiders, which Lewis identifies as one of the most dominant elements in human life]

In all men's lives at certain periods, and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside. Often the desire conceals itself so well that we hardly recognize the pleasures of fruition. Men tell not only their wives but themselves that it is a hardship to stay late at the office or the school on some bit of important extra work which they have been let in for because they and So-and-so and the two others are the only people left in the place who really know how things are run. But it is not quite true. It is a terrible bore, of course, when old Fatty Smithson draws you aside and whispers "Look here, we've got to get you in on this examination somehow" or "Charles and I saw at once that you've got to be on this committee". A terrible bore ... ah, but how much more terrible if you were left out! It is tiring and unhealthy to lose your Saturday afternoons: but to have them free because you don't matter, that is much worse. ... I wonder whether, in ages of promiscuity, many a virginity has not been lost less in obedience to Venus than in obedience to the lure of the caucus. For of course, when promiscuity is the fashion, the chaste are outsiders. They are ignorant of something that other people know. They are uninitiated. And as for lighter matters, the number who first smoked or first got drunk for a similar reason is probably very large.

The Inner Ring, from Transposition and Other Addresses