Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.

Muscæ morientes perdunt suavitatem unguenti. Pretiosior est sapientia et gloria, parva et ad tempus stultitia.

No ointment can perfumer brew so sweet, but it grows foul when dead flies are lodged in it. And wouldst thou barter away wisdom and honour both, for a moment’s folly?

The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand.

Cor sapientis in dextera ejus, et cor stulti in sinistra illius.

The fool’s wits are astray; the wise man’s right is to him left.

Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools.

Sed et in via stultus ambulans, cum ipse insipiens sit, omnes stultos æstimat.

By his way of it, every passer-by on the road is a fool, save he.

If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease.

Si spiritus potestatem habentis ascenderit super te, locum tuum ne demiseris, quia curatio faciet cessare peccata maxima.

Though a prince’s anger should mount against thee, do not desert thy post; great harm by thy healing touch may yet be assuaged.

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince:

Est malum quod vidi sub sole, quasi per errorem egrediens a facie principis:

This is a source of trouble I have marked, here under the sun; the causeless whim of tyrants.

A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.

positum stultum in dignitate sublimi, et divites sedere deorsum.

Fools come to the top, down go rank and riches;

I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.

Vidi servos in equis, et principes ambulantes super terram quasi servos.

slaves you will see riding on horseback, and princes going afoot at their bridle-rein.

He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Qui fodit foveam incidet in eam, et qui dissipat sepem mordebit eum coluber.

Fall into pit thou shalt not, if thou dig none; breach no walls, if thou wouldst avoid the adder’s sting.

He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them.

Qui transfert lapides affligetur in eis, et qui scindit ligna vulnerabitur ab eis.

Stone crushes his foot that stone carries, and wood scratches him that wood cuts.

If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom.

Si retusum fuerit ferrum, et hoc non ut prius, sed hebetatum fuerit, multo labore exacuetur, et post industriam sequetur sapientia.

Blunt tool that has grown dull from long disuse shall cost thee pains a many; if thou hadst been wise sooner, thou shouldst have toiled less.

If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly.

Si mordeat serpens in silentio, nihil eo minus habet qui occulte detrahit.

Bite snake ere the spell begins, he is no better off that has the master-word.

The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong.

Verba oris sapientis gratia, et labia insipientis præcipitabunt eum;

Wise utterance wins favour; the fool that opens his mouth does but ruin himself,

The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a mischievous error.

initium verborum ejus stultitia, et novissimum oris illius error pessimus.

his preface idle talk, his conclusion madness.

A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him?

Stultus verba multiplicat. Ignorat homo quid ante se fuerit; et quid post se futurum sit, quis ei poterit indicare?

Of words a fool has no stint …… What went before, is lost to man’s view, and what shall befall when he is gone, none can tell him.

The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to the city.

Labor stultorum affliget eos, qui nesciunt in urbem pergere.

He is on a fool’s errand, that does not even know his way to town.

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning.

Væ tibi, terra, cujus rex puer est, et cujus principes mane comedunt.

Woe to the land that has young blood on the throne, whose court sits feasting till daybreak!

Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.

Beata terra cujus rex nobilis est, et cujus principes vescuntur in tempore suo, ad reficiendum, et non ad luxuriam.

And happy the land whose king is of true princely breed, whose courtiers feast when feast should be, to comfort their hearts, not all in revelry.

By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through.

In pigritiis humiliabitur contignatio, et in infirmitate manuum perstillabit domus.

Roof sags where idleness dwells; a leaking gutter means nerveless hands within.

For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast: and all things obey money.

In risum faciunt panem et vinum ut epulentur viventes; et pecuniæ obediunt omnia.

Food will cheer thee, wine bring thee gladness, but money, it answers every need.

Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said.

In cogitatione tua regi ne detrahas, et in secreto cubiculi tui ne maledixeris diviti: quia et aves cæli portabunt vocem tuam, et qui habet pennas annuntiabit sententiam.

Of the king, no treasonable thought; of the nobles, no ill word even in thy bed-chamber; the very birds in heaven will catch the echoes of it, and fly off to betray thy secret.