Chapter XV From Wisdom’s Treasury
WISDOM EXALTETH HER SONS, AND TAKETH HOLD ON THEM THAT LOVE HER:
HE THAT LOVETH HER LOVETH LIFE.
AND THEY THAT SEEK HER EARLY SHALL BE FILLED WITH GLADNESS:
HE THAT HOLDETH HER FAST SHALL INHERIT GLORY (E. 411, 12).
But Wisdom will brook nothing less than the full purport of those words—a diligent search, a genuine love, and an unrelaxing grasp—in exchange for her high rewards. And though it is better to find her late than not at all, as a rule it is true that only the life she has entered early is likely to know great happiness. Yet Wisdom makes no mystery of her treasures, nor hides them willingly.
Here are some of her most precious truths.
How simply told! How hard to make our very own!
As iron sharpeneth iron,
So man sharpeneth man.112
Faithful are the wounds of a friend.113
Who is ignorant of it? As Bacon says in his essay on Friendship, “There is no such flatterer as is a man’s self; and there is no such remedy against flattery as the liberty of a friend.” And yet how rarely, in actual experience, have men the grace to appreciate, or tolerate, even the kindliest of their critics.
A soft answer turneth away wrath.114
Have you tested the matter yet?
He whose spirit is without restraint is like a city that is broken down and hath no wall.115
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.116
Pride goeth before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.117
The wicked flee when no man pursueth.118
If a righteous man fall seven times, he riseth up again;
But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.119
He that despiseth small things shall fall by little and little.120
Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.121
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;
But a wish fulfilled is a tree of life.122
Woe unto fearful hearts and to faint hands,
And to the sinner that goeth two ways!
Woe to the faint heart, for it believeth not;
Therefore shall it not be defended.
Woe unto you that have lost your patience!
What will ye do when the Lord shall visit you?123
There is no wisdom nor understanding,
Nor counsel against the Lord:
The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But the victory is of the Lord.124
Truth stands:
Falsehood does not stand.125
This is a very long chapter;
Think on these things.