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10:1  As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.
10:2  A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.
10:3  You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!
10:4  If your boss is angry at you, don't quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.
10:5  There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake
10:6  when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.
10:7  I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes--and princes walking like servants!
10:8  When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake.
10:9  When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you. When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax.
10:10  Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.
10:11  If a snake bites before you charm it, what's the use of being a snake charmer?
10:12  Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words.
10:13  Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness;
10:14  they chatter on and on. No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future.
10:15  Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can't even find their way home.
10:16  What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning.
10:17  Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, not to get drunk.
10:18  Laziness leads to a sagging roof; idleness leads to a leaky house.
10:19  A party gives laughter, wine gives happiness, and money gives everything!
10:20  Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don't make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.