="It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth."= (=Proverbs 20. 14.=)
But though he is so quick to laugh at human follies the wise man has a tender heart. He helps his hearers to sympathize with those who are anxious and discouraged. And he knows the value of friendly encouragement.
="Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop; But a good word maketh it glad."= (=Proverbs 12. 25.=)
=A practical advice of the wise men.=--With this knowledge of human nature these teachers were able to give much good counsel in matters of business. For example, there were tricksters in those days just as now. One of their favorite tricks was to persuade some "greenhorn" to act as surety for a loan. "Just shake hands with me before witnesses," the smooth tongued one would say, "and the banker will lend me money; there is a caravan of silks coming from Damascus which I can buy for a song. We will both be rich." So the poor fool would shake hands before witnesses, which was like our modern custom of signing one's name on a note. The man would then take the money and disappear, leaving his victim to repay the loan or be sold into slavery. "Be on your guard against these sharpers," the wise men were constantly saying.
The best part of the teaching of the wise men had to do with even more important matters than how to keep from being cheated. They helped people live together. They had many sensible things to say about good manners. For example, Joshua the son of Sirach, a wise man whose sayings are found in the book of Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha, gives much wise counsel about table manners:
="Consider thy neighbor's liking by thine own, And be discreet in every point. Eat as becometh a man, those things which are set before thee; And eat not greedily, lest thou be hated. Be first to leave off, for manner's sake, And be not insatiable, lest thou offend."=
Surely courtesy at the table is one of the things which make life happy and noble. Truly civilized people do not eat like pigs in a trough.
As they looked out upon the lives of men what made the wise men most sorry was the hatred and bitterness which they so often saw between those who should have been friends. One of their most frequent teachings was the need for the control of one's anger and for charity and forgiveness.