From the author: Chapter 16 from the book “Dialogue in Silence” Have you read “The Proverbs of Solomon”? This is where the treasure trove of wisdom lies! But each “sage” has his own understanding, which is why there are no two identical interpretations of the selected quotes. Everyone sees their reflection in the clear pond of wisdom. I also looked there and would be happy to share what I saw.1. “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become a wise man in his own eyes.”2. “Do not speak into the ears of a fool, for he will despise your wise words.” Not understanding wisdom, the fool disputes the words, leading the conversation in a different direction. When you try to explain to him, approaching the question from the other side, he sees the next meaning in this, assuring that you yourself are confused. Not seeing the connection between analogies and metaphors, he develops the topic of conversation on the first familiar word that comes to hand. At the same time, he feels like a sage, acquiring arrogance, which results in an argument for the sake of an argument. You should not encourage his delusions, because with his stupidity he puts you in the position of justifying himself in the fact that he meant something completely different. By remaining silent, you will give him a chance to think again about what was said and will not push him into the abyss of tyranny. Ignoring stupid questions leads to their death. There can be no answer to stupidity from the wise. In such situations, I have one piece of advice to the careless: “I can speak correctly for you, but I am not able to hear correctly for you.” Only a reasonable interlocutor should receive the answer of a sage.3. “For those who have it, understanding is the source of life, but the learning of fools is folly.”4. “A stupid person does not like knowledge, but only to show off his intelligence.” Often, lovers of smart parties and collectors of celebrities in their album of memories enter into discussions about the meaning of life, and not only that. Moreover, they mainly remember only their own remarks, which mislead their interlocutors. They memorize the names of famous philosophers, scientists, their famous sayings and facts from their biographies. But the problem is that they often use them inappropriately, without understanding the true meaning. The interlocutor’s confusion, arising from the understanding that he is an idiot and the reluctance to humiliate him even more, is perceived by the latter as a lack of arguments against his “true knowledge.” I never cease to assert that the most important Teacher is the one who opened the consciousness of the student and taught him to penetrate into the depths of the text and see between the lines. This is how primary school teachers should be. And then any book will become a source of knowledge. A fool, even with the multiplication table memorized, cannot solve the simplest problem. As the saying goes, “he guessed all the letters, but couldn’t read the words.” A parrot who knows a lot of smart book words will remain a stupid bird, but one who has intelligence draws wisdom from his life and only compares it with books. As they say, no matter what a fool says, it will still be inappropriate. You don’t need to cram, but penetrate into the essence of the subject being studied, the meaning of life, and... extract the answers yourself.5. “Why is there a treasure in the hands of a fool? He has no intelligence to acquire wisdom.” This saying directly explains why you should not “throw pearls before swine.” Without seeing the value of the Teaching, a fool will not be able to use it for the benefit of himself and people. Sooner or later he will exchange it for lollipops and a feather bed. For a fool, any teaching is smart, but cold words, which will then only become out of place with a pompous phrase expressed by him. A wise book is a treasure for one who knows the truth and useless waste paper for a fool.6. “And a fool, when he is silent, may seem wise, and he who shuts his mouth may seem prudent.” If you don’t know what to say, or are not sure of the accuracy of your thought, it is better to remain silent. Silence leaves behind you an aura of mystery, while a calm gaze adds hidden wisdom. The energy of respect will flow in your direction, and not ridicule for the stupidity expressed. In addition, reward will be added for self-control and resistance to pride. At the same time, in reverse order, do not think that you know a person’s thoughts if you have not heard a single word from his mouth.7.“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”8. “By the fruit of a man’s lips his belly is filled; with the fruit of his mouth he is satisfied.”9. “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.” The word is not a sparrow, but a bird of your happiness. We are filled with what we spew out of ourselves with our tongue. If you speak badly about a person, you are not talking about him, but about your inner attitude towards him. What has been said belongs to you, you created your own negative energy, and you will live in it. So it turns out that “your tongue is your enemy.” A cruel word hurts the one to whom it is addressed, but corrupts the speaker himself. The wounds of the victim will be healed with wisdom, but the hunger for rust, stupid envy and anger in the offender cannot be stopped. Love yourself and what you say, creating not just an image of a kind person, but also maintaining the purity of your life.10. “Some idle talkers wound like a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.” The same words, but spoken by different people, evoke different reactions in us. This is because the purposes for which they were pronounced are different. The tone of those speaking and the moment of pronouncing the phrase will be completely different. In the mouth of a wise man, any remark will become advice, but from the mouth of a fool, only mockery and ridicule sound. It is better for a wise person to scold than for a fool to praise.11. “Touch the wicked with misfortune, and they will be gone, but the house of the righteous will stand.” A person without honor in a difficult moment for him, as they say, “walks over corpses,” falling at the same time in the eyes of others, destroying the remnants of his own dignity. The knot of lies is tightened even tighter and the load of hatred becomes heavier, because in the current situation he always blames everyone and everything around him. A person of honor will perceive any situation as a test and will come out of it with dignity, because he will begin to look for the cause of the conflict, first of all, in himself. Having endured suffering, he will forgive and become stronger in spirit. Understanding the weakness and imperfection of others, the wise neutralizes the evil directed at him.12. “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He rewards him for his good deed.”13. “He who gives to a beggar will not become poor; but whoever closes his eyes to him will have many curses.” I know that many do not like to give alms to those asking, noticing that this is followed by problems with money. This means that when giving alms, a person sees in front of him a slacker, a parasite of his beneficence. The idea was born that I was forced to give my hard earned money to someone who was not even worthy of attention. For this he is punished many times. After all, God himself sits in front of him. The Lord is in each of us. In the beggar He rests from the labors of the righteous, but he always wants to eat. It's a joke, but every joke contains only a fraction of the joke itself. With what thought will you give alms to the Lord himself? After all, it is by His will that you have your fortune, it is by Him that you were given talents that led to enrichment. You asked God for “daily bread” and received it according to your faith and labors. Imagine that the Father helped you succeed, and then was denied a small request only because you did not recognize him in beggar clothes. Would He want to change His will no longer in your favor? A tenth of your income should be given to charity. It doesn’t matter whether those close or distant received help from you, the main thing is that those who need it. If you often meet beggars, then think that the Lord himself is asking for your help. By helping one, you get in return the opportunity to help two. The hand of the giver will never fail. The greedy will also be taken away from what he had. 14. “A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory comes from the Lord.” This is the other side of the saying “trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself.” It is through our efforts that God's will is accomplished on earth. Sometimes we succeed in preparing an undertaking, but the result turns out to be completely different, not included in our plans and beyond our imagination. So, my family and I tried to get to America and did everything possible so successfully that we ended up... in England. And it turned out that this is the most favorable country for our future. Thanks to free English medicine, I was saved from certain death in the USAor in Russia. God knows best what is good for us, but at the same time we need to do what we think is right. Thus, many situations arise when we went for something specific, but “accidentally” found something completely different, which turned our whole life upside down. And we didn’t even know about his existence, much less his genius. So prepare your horse, hope for victory, God willing.15. “Do not enter your friend’s house more often, so that he does not get bored with you and hate you.” Indeed, absurd situations often occur in our lives when close people encroach on our freedom, turning friendship into an unbearable burden, an unpayable debt. It’s good if it ends as the “end of friendship,” but worse when it turns into the “beginning of hatred.” Be able to be a true friend while remaining a welcome guest.16. “Do not say: “I will repay evil”; leave it to the Lord, and He will protect you.”17. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him with bread; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For by doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” It is this advice that I am guided by in the “three churches” method of pacifying enemies and gaining the intercession of the Higher Powers. If you are offended, take pity on the offender so that he is punished. Candles are always lit “for the health” of both friends and enemies. Another thing. That the Lord himself knows who and how to heal. One with sweetness, and the other with rods, both are the grace of the Lord.18. “Do not magnify yourself in front of the king and do not become in the place of the great; Because it is better when they say to you: “Come higher here,” than when they lower you before the noble whom your eyes have seen.” Let others call you great if you are yourself respect. Greatness is not something that bursts from the inside, but something that cannot be hidden from the outside.19. “The prudent sees trouble and takes refuge, but the inexperienced go forward and are punished.” The wisdom of life is the ability to see the signs of impending trouble, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Do you remember - “a smart person won’t go up a mountain, a smart person will go around a mountain.” Obvious obstacles indicate the need to change the direction of your attention, and possibly advancement.20. “Do not leave the young man unpunished; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die; but you will save his soul from hell.”21. “The rod and reproof give wisdom; but a child left in negligence brings shame to his mother.” All serious crimes are the natural result of impunity for small pranks. And it all begins with children’s pranks, against which only the rod is a decree. The wisdom of the Lord's love for us is in punishing us for our sins. If you love your son, then you will hit the hand stretched out into the fire so that his body does not burn. How can his soul be protected from the Fire Hyena? First with a word of wisdom, but after retreating - with rods, so that every cell makes the brain think. If the natural instinct of humanity does not work, then it is necessary to instill morality at a reflex level.22. “Like a sparrow flutters, like a swallow flies away. So an undeserved curse will not come true.” A person with a pure soul will not be touched by negative, destructive energy. Another question is, are there many of these, crystal clear? We are very weak in sin, lies and laziness, which is why our defense against curses is weak. They curse us for one reason, in our opinion undeservedly, and we receive punishment for another reason; the curse only speeds up the process. Many sparkling parables do not even need to be explained.23. “The one who, passing by, interferes in a quarrel, grabs the dog by the ears.”24. “The sluggard puts his hand into the cup, and it is difficult for him to bring it to his mouth.”25. “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”26. “As in water face to face, so the heart of a man comes to man.”27. “A man who flatters his friend spreads a net for his feet.” The reluctance to offend a friend with the bitter truth, in my opinion, is imposed by stupidity, short-sightedness and even betrayal. A world of illusions is artificially maintained, which will collapse sooner or later. Disappointment in life sets in, faith in sincerity and friendship is lost. The one corrupted by the flattery of a friend promises even greater deceit..