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guardian of the laws. A knowledgeable pilot will flee the mighty waves, And a mind bearing wise thoughts, all dreadful things. Of the best life, do not think the opposite things; For justice is manifest to the most wicked. The greatest anvil does not fear the blows And a prudent mind, all violence that pulls it. The sounds of leaves frighten hares, 921 But the shadows of things frighten unmanly men. I hate a poor man giving a gift to a rich man, As one speaking to him who has forgotten to provide. A wicked orator corrupts the laws But a pure orator, a well-tempered harmony. The wealthy laugh at the reproaches of orphans, They laugh at the very vengeance of God. He will run around the laws toward destruction, He who does not conduct himself lawfully toward the guardians of the law. It is the nature of the poor not to be proud; For the rich have not even a care for life. Educate fools, as far as is possible by nature; For they might somehow have sense beyond expectation. 922 Striking iron sets even stones on fire; And a harsh whip instructs the heart. The things which enemies fear more than others, The cross and the communion of baptism. It is most wicked to give and to receive oaths, For perhaps you have offended against justice in both. Treasure up the age that is without end; For this one has passed away even before its end. Do not, then, love the wealth which time dissolves; For what time has built, time will also dissolve. It is shameful for women to display a masculine character; For modesty is the common order for respectable women. Pleasure is a steep slope for those who use it, 923 And as it approaches, it is gone like a stone. For those in pain, no wealth is greater than health; And nature wisely desires this for mortals. The sounds of the sea, the words of a foolish man; Weighing down the shores, they do not fatten the green shoots. Gifts persuade even the wise to overlook And for mortals gold is a lure, as snares are for birds. Sorrows bring on old age even before its time; For what character has brought down, time will not set up. Wealth is the swiftest servant of evils; For it is power ready at hand for evildoing. There is no possession better than a friend; Never acquire a wicked man as a friend. Let order be honored, and let it precede power; 924 For it is power and always the guardian of power. A worried mind is a moth eating away the bones; But the body thrives that runs past cares. No surfeit is by nature temperate; For fire is accustomed to run upon the wood. Wine is the awakening of a passion that has passed away; For fuel flowing in strengthens the flame. Those who fear judgments flee from anger; For judgments often kindle wrath. It is a terrible thing to add toils to one weary with toils; But yet toil has often put an end to toils. Some, fearing the toils of others, Are seen endangering themselves in other toils. Always take thought for eternal glory; 925 For the present one is false day by day. No one with anger deliberates safely; For things done with anger have no counsel yet. Serpents are terrible, and vipers are evil-doers; A woman's terribleness is double that among beasts. Bare bones persuade those who see them, That nothing here is natural to us. If the offspring of crabs do not walk sideways, Let them have experience of their mother's gait. You will produce, manifestly forcing nature, Good students from bad teachers. Adorn yourself with good proofs, And do not despise a poor orphan. 926 When God gives, envy has no strength, And when he does not give, toil has no strength. You give birth, viper; do not fear the birth-pangs; Having received it, you have experience of a mother's childbirth. No hero comes from manifest cowardice; For victories exact praises. A sleepy man, a finder of dreams; For sleep is an initiator into phantoms, not realities. Violence is accustomed to persuade the unwilling, For it often chokes even giants. When the people have stumbled, every charlatan takes charge; And the people are in every way a disorder of good things. A side-task I in no way call a task; 927 For a side-task is also to be despised. The order of the limbs of things cast on the ground toward the dead bodies Is honored by the assembled dogs. When gold speaks, let every speech fall silent, For it knows how to persuade, even though it is its nature not to speak. Even now they will have to endure the things that lead to peace, Those who are mad for the fleeting things of life.

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νόμων φύλαξ. Κύβερνος ἴδμων φεύξεται τρικυμίας, Καὶ δεινὰ πάντα νοῦς σοφὰς φέρων φρένας. Ζωῆς ἀρίστης μὴ φρόνει τἀναντία· Καὶ γὰρ πρόδηλος τοῖς κακίστοις ἡ δίκη. Μέγιστος ἄκμων οὐ φοβεῖται τοὺς κτύπους Καὶ νοῦς ἐχέφρων πᾶσαν ἕλκουσαν βίαν. Φύλλων λαγωοὺς ἐκφοβοῦσιν οἱ ψόφοι, 921 Ἄνδρας δ' ἀνάνδρους αἱ σκιαὶ τῶν πραγμάτων. Μισῶ πένητα πλουσίῳ δωρούμενον, Ὡς τῷ λέγοντι τοῦ τρέφειν λελησμένῳ. Ῥήτωρ πονηρὸς τοὺς νόμους λυμαίνεται Ἁγνὸς δὲ ῥήτωρ, εὔκρατος ἁρμονία. Γελῶσιν οἱ πλουτοῦντες ὀρφανῶν ψόγους, Αὐτὴν γελῶσι τὴν Θεοῦ τιμωρίαν. Νόμοις περιδραμεῖται πρὸς ὀλεθρίαν, Ὁ μὴ νόμου φύλαξιν ἐννόμως φέρων. Πέφυκε τοῖς πένησι μὴ φρονεῖν μέγα· Τοῖς πλουσίοις γὰρ οὐδὲ φροντὶς τοῦ βίου. Παίδευε μωροὺς, ὡς ἐφικτὸν τῇ φύσει· Ἕξουσι γάρ που καὶ φρένας παρ' ἐλπίδα. 922 Πλήττων σίδηρος ἐκπυροῖ καὶ τοὺς λίθους· Σκληρὰ δὲ μάστιξ παιδαγωγεῖ καρδίαν. Ἃ δυσμενεῖς φοβοῦσι τῶν ἄλλων πλέον, Ὁ σταυρὸς καὶ βαπτισμοῦ ἡ κοινωνία. Ὅρκους κάκιστον διδόναι καὶ λαμβάνειν, Ἴσως γὰρ ἄμφω προσκέκρουκας τῇ δίκῃ. Αἰῶνα θησαύριζε τὸν ἔξω τέλους· Οὗτος γὰρ ἐκλέλοιπε καὶ πρὸ τοῦ τέλους. Μὴ δὴ φίλει τὸν ὄλβον, ὃν λύει χρόνος· Ἃ γὰρ χρόνος δόμησε, καὶ λύσει χρόνος. Αἰσχρὸν γυναίοις ἄρσεν ἦθος ἐκφέρειν· Ταῖς κοσμίαις γὰρ τάξις ἡ αἰδὼς ξυνή. Κάταντές ἐστιν ἡδονὴ τοῖς χρωμένοις, 923 Καὶ ὡς πρόσεισιν, οἴχεται λίθου δίκην. Οὐδεὶς ὑγείας πλοῦτος ἀλγοῦσι πλέον· Σοφῶς δὲ ταύτην ἡ φύσις βροτῶν θέλει. Ἦχοι θαλάσσης, ἀνδρὸς ἄφρονος λόγοι· Βρίθοντες ἀκτὰς, οὐ πιαίνουσι χλόας Πείθουσι δῶρα καὶ σοφοὺς παραβλέπειν Βροτοῖς δὲ θήρα χρυσὸς, ὡς πτηνοῖς πάγη. Γῆρας λύπαι τίκτουσι καὶ πρὸ τῶν χρόνων· Ἃ γὰρ τρόπος καθεῖλεν, οὐ στήσει χρόνος. Πλοῦτος τάχιστος τῶν κακῶν ὑπηρέτης· Καὶ γὰρ πρόχειρον εἰς κακουργίαν κράτος. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν κτῆμα βέλτιον φίλου· Πονηρὸν ἄνδρα μηδέπου κτήσῃ φίλον. Τάξις τιμάσθω, καὶ προηγείσθω κράτους· 924 Κράτος γὰρ αὕτη καὶ κράτους ἀεὶ φύλαξ Νοῦς ἐμμέριμνος σὴς βιβρώσκων ὀστέα· Θάλλει δὲ σῶμα φροντίδας παρατρέχον. Οὐδεὶς κόρος πέφυκε σωφρόνως ἔχειν· Καὶ γὰρ τὸ πῦρ εἴωθε ταῖς ὕλαις θέειν. Οἶνος πάθους ἔγερσις ἐκλελοιπότος· Ὕλη γὰρ εἰσρέουσα ῥώννυσι φλόγα. Φεύγουσιν ὀργὰς οἱ δίκας δεδοικότες· Θυμὸν γὰρ ἐξάπτουσι πολλάκις δίκαι. ∆εινὸν πόνοις κάμνοντι προσθεῖναι πόνους· Ἀλλ' οὖν πόνους ἔπαυσε πολλάκις πόνος. Ἄλλοι μὲν ἄλλων τοὺς πόνους δεδοικότες, Ἄλλοις ὁρῶνται κινδυνεύοντες πόνοις. ∆όξης ἀεὶ φρόντιζε τῆς αἰωνίου· 925 Ἡ γὰρ παροῦσα ψεύδεται καθημέραν. Οὐδεὶς μετ' ὀργῆς ἀσφαλῶς βουλεύεται· Τὰ γὰρ μετ' ὀργῆς οὐδέπω βουλὴν ἔχει. ∆εινὸν δράκοντες, καὶ κακοῦργον ἀσπίδες· ∆ιπλῆ γυναικὸς δεινότης ἐν θηρίοις. Πείθουσι γυμνὰ τοὺς ὁρῶντας ὀστέα, Ὡς οὐδὲν ἡμῖν προσφυὲς τῶν ἐνθάδε. Εἰ λοξὰ μὴ βαίνουσι καρκίνων γόνοι, Πεῖραν λάβωσι μητρικῶν βαδισμάτων. ∆ώσεις προδήλως ἐκβιάζων τὴν φύσιν, Καλοὺς μαθητὰς ἐκ κακῶν διδασκάλων. Κόσμει σεαυτὸν τοῖς καλοῖς τεκμηρίοις, Καὶ μὴ πένητος ὀρφανοῦ καταφρόνει. 926 Θεοῦ διδόντος, οὐδὲν ἰσχύει φθόνος, Καὶ μὴ διδόντος, οὐδὲν ἰσχύει κόπος. Τίκτεις, ἔχιδνα· μὴ φοβοῦ τὰς ὠδῖνας· Ἔχεις λαβοῦσα μητρικοῦ πεῖραν τόκου. Οὐδεὶς ἀριστεὺς ἐκ προδήλου δειλίας· Νίκαι γὰρ εἰσπράττουσι τὰς εὐφημίας. Ἀνὴρ ὑπνώδης, εὑρέτης ὀνειράτων· Μύστης γὰρ ὕπνος φασμάτων, οὐ πραγμάτων. Εἴωθε πείθειν μὴ θέλοντας ἡ βία, Ἄγχει γὰρ αὕτη καὶ γίγαντας πολλάκις. ∆ήμου σφαλέντος, πᾶς ἀγύρτης ἄρχεται· ∆ῆμος δὲ πάντη τῶν καλῶν ἀταξία. Ἔργον πάρεργον οὐδαμῶς ἔργον λέγω· 927 Τὸ γὰρ πάρεργον καὶ καταφρονητέον. Ἡ πρὸς τὰ νεκρὰ τῶν χαμαιριφῶν μέλη Τάξις τιμᾶται τῶν κυνῶν ἠθροισμένων. Χρυσοῦ λαλοῦντος, πᾶς ἀπρακτείτω λόγος, Πείθειν γὰρ οἶδε, κἂν πέφυκεν μὴ λέγειν. Ἕξουσι καὶ νῦν τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην φέρειν, Οἱ πρὸς τὰ ῥευστὰ τοῦ βίου μεμηνότες.