Wisdom Book

Chapter 18

be prepared
Always be on the lookout for rudeness, bossiness, hypocrisy, and all sorts of other stupid behaviors.These actions are everywhere, and prudent people will try to avoid them, so that they will not suffer any harm.A man should have the foresight not to allow some vulgar accident to affect his reputation.Arm yourself with prudence, and you will not be harmed by folly.The sea of ​​human beings is full of dangerous shoals and hidden reefs. If you are not careful, your reputation will be subverted by them.The best thing to do is to change course, and think about how clever Ulysses did it.When encountering all kinds of offenses mentioned above, it is very effective to avoid them skillfully.Being big-hearted and courteous is also the only way to help us out of trouble.

Be careful with people

Don't break the relationship easily, it will bring damage to our reputation.Anyone can be a deadly enemy if not a good friend.Few people can do good deeds, but almost everyone can do bad deeds.After breaking with the beetle, the eagle feels restless even if it builds its nest in Jupiter's bosom.Talking too bluntly will irritate hypocrites, and they will bide their time to get back at you.Enraged friends will be your worst enemies: they will accuse you of your faults in order to cover up their own.When people see you break up with your friends, they will be judgmental.They will criticize you for lack of vision and should not have taken so long to break the relationship.If a breakup is unavoidable, stay together and stay away. Don't break with anger, but slowly distance yourself. This is a good application of the maxim of how to exit wisely.

Find someone to share your misfortune

Find friends to share your worries, only in this way, you will not feel lonely.Even in perilous situations, you don't have to bear all the abominations alone.Some people think that they are high and powerful, and they always want to monopolize all the honors, but in the end, all the criticism is directed at him.In this way, no one forgives him, and no one shares his troubles.The two fought side by side, and neither bad luck nor thugs dared to attack rashly.A good doctor will also have treatment failures. At this time, he will consult other doctors to see if someone will help him carry the corpse.Find someone to share the weight and sorrow with, if you are alone, you will bear double the misfortune.

Meeting insults, turning enemies into friends

It is much wiser to avoid being insulted than to take revenge on others after being insulted.It's a shrewd way to turn potential enemies into friends, and to turn those who seek to destroy your reputation into defenders of it.It will do you good to keep others grateful to you, and to turn the insults they want to inflict on you into gratitude.Turning worries into pleasures is a wise way of life. Try to turn hostility into your confidant.

You can't be all yours, and no one else can be all yours
You can't be completely someone else's, and someone else can't be completely yours.The closest friendship and even family relationship cannot reach the level of mutual indifference.There is a decisive difference between fully trusting and fully caring.No matter how close the bond is, there is bound to be estrangement.socialize with people.No matter how close you are to him, you must also abide by the principle of treating each other with courtesy.Everyone keeps some secrets, explaining that they are sons, and hiding something from their father.If we hide something about someone from A, we will reveal it to B, and vice versa.In this way, a person reveals everything and at the same time conceals everything, but only for different objects.

don't follow through on mistakes

There are many people who stubbornly believe that they are not wrong after making mistakes, and continue to walk down the wrong path to prove their resilience.Deep down, they will regret their mistakes, and on the surface, they will excuse their mistakes.When they first make mistakes, people think it's just a momentary lapse, and if they don't learn from their mistakes, but make mistakes again and again, people think they are stupid.Neither rash promises nor bad decisions can limit us forever.Those who do not correct their stupidity are the real fools.

Learn to forget
Learning to forget requires luck, not pure skill.The easiest things to remember are often the hardest to forget.Not only is memory elusive, arriving late when we need it most, but it's also stupid, popping up when we don't need it, reminding us of painful experiences.Memory is always active when we are miserable, and it is always indifferent when we are happy.The best cure for worry is to forget about it, but we keep forgetting this prescription.Train our memory from now on, let it form a good habit, for it can make our life as much a paradise as it can make it a hell.Those innocent and happy people don't care about this.

Good things would rather belong to others

Many good things do not need our own hands, and we can enjoy them better if they are in the hands of others.On day one, the owner enjoys the pleasure they bring, but from then on, they're all for someone else.We always enjoy double the enjoyment of a thing when it is owned by someone else, with the added pleasure of novelty without the fear of losing it.What is not available is always the best, even the well water in other people's homes is like a fine nectar.Stuff is your own, always less fun and more trouble.When someone makes a request to you, you will worry about whether to borrow or not.When you have these things, you keep them for others, or keep them from them, and gain nothing but many enemies. .

don't be careless

Fate sometimes likes to play tricks, as long as you don't pay attention, it will hit you unexpectedly.Our wit, our prudence, our courage, even our beauty, must always be ready for such a test.When you think you are the most confident, you will be humiliated.It's always gone when you need prudence the most.Carelessness can make us stumble and never recover.Those who spy on us use this ploy to test us for perfection when we are unprepared.They sit on the sidelines when we are at our best, but choose moments when we don't expect them to subject us to the most severe tests.

Let those who depend on you suffer
A dangerous situation at a particular moment can test a person's ability, just as some people only learn to swim when they are about to drown.This is how many people discover their courage, knowledge and resourcefulness.Without this opportunity, these talents are doomed to be buried in cowardice.Dangerous situations can give us a chance to gain prestige.When a noble man sees his reputation damaged, he can do what a thousand men can hardly do.Queen Isabel, a Catholic, knew this (as many others) and bestowed this shrewd boon upon Captain Columbus and many others, to enable their names to be immortalized.With this ingenious method she has created many great characters.

Too good can be bad
A person who is never angry often backfires.A person without emotions cannot be called a real person.Never lost his temper, not because he was numb, but because he was incompetent.Grasping the right moment to express your emotions can show your personality, and even the birds will make fun of the scarecrow.There is bitterness and sweetness, which is a sign of good taste.Only children and fools seek sweetness blindly.To lose yourself by being too kind is to make a big mistake.

soft-spoken, peaceful
Bows and arrows can hurt people's bodies, but bad words can hurt people's hearts.Sweet pastry can make the mouth full of aroma.Getting others to buy into your words is a fine art.Many things are accomplished by words, sweet words can get you out of trouble, and noble speech can generate strength and courage, so we should work hard on speech.Always watch your words, fill your mouth with honey, and turn what you have to say into candy that your enemies love.If you want to please people, you must be gentle and peaceful.

The wise always act before the fool
Doing the same thing, the way to distinguish a fool from a wise man is to grasp the timing of doing it.A wise man always does it at the right time, and a fool always does it at the wrong time.People who start off in an upside-down, muddled mind, go on like this until the end.It was supposed to be worn on the top of the head, but it was stepped on the bottom of the foot, using the left hand as the right hand, and all the behaviors were immature like children.There is only one way to get them enlightened in time, and that is to change what is compelled to do into pleasure.That way they can do it in a good mood and get credit for it.

Take advantage of your novelty
Newcomers can always be reused, because new things can make people refreshed and happy.The mediocre newcomers get more praise than the greats we're already familiar with.When outstanding people get along with mediocre people for a long time, it will be disgusted.But, you should understand: the glory of novelty is short-lived, after a few days, people will stop paying attention to you.So, learn to take advantage of the admiration people have for you in the first place, and take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way when they are about to pass away.Once the novelty wears off, people's enthusiasm will suddenly cool down, and the choice of pleasure will turn into disgust.Please believe that everything has its time, and the time is fleeting.

Don't condemn fashion alone
If an item can be liked by most people, it must have its merits.No matter how incomprehensible it is, its popularity cannot change the reality.Bizarre behavior is repulsive and all the more ludicrous if it's wrong.Not only will you not be able to harm the object you condemn, but you will also make people doubt your taste, and because you are alone in condemning, everyone will dislike you and your taste.If you don't know how to appreciate the advantages of a thing, hide your stupidity and don't express your opinions casually.In general, vulgar taste often comes from ignorance.What everyone loves is either a fact, or people want it to be a fact.

don't do things you're not sure about
Don't do things you're not sure of, and people will think you're solid, if not witty.Only those who know the truth of the matter.You can let your imagination run wild.If you don't know anything and still take risks, it is tantamount to asking for death.Go with the habit, because the tried and tested approach seldom goes wrong.People who don't know much have to walk a safe and broad road.When doing things, whether you know it or not, it is much wiser to act safely and reliably than to play tricks.

(End of this chapter)