Excerpts from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, a new translation of the Bible:

Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself.

As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness.

A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

Don’t call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.

A spoken reprimand is better than approval that’s never expressed.

A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.

Playing favorites is always a bad thing; you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.

In the end serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery.

If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure; real survivors learn wisdom from others.