Kindness beautifies: it covers the "no" in gold, sweetens the truth, even old age makes it seem more "Romanian". In any business, the "how" is important: politeness, like cheating, is safe.
Experienced people know the pulse of the spirit by speech, it was not for nothing that the sage said: "Speak", if you want me to know you...
The criterion of genuine satisfaction is praise from masters in the field.
Metal is known by the way it sounds, and man by the way he speaks.
The world is full of fools, but no one notices his own stupidity, or even suspects it.
Too much talk is cause for strife.
Silence is the altar of prudence.
The wise man appreciates everyone, because he sees something good in everyone.
Bear the mockery, but do not mock. The first is a form of politeness, the second - a start to gossip.
Don't be nagging - so you don't make a laughingstock and upset others.
Don't get too excited. Avoid superlatives so as not to distort the image and not come off as a fool. To praise beyond measure, to stop showing enthusiasm is a sign of limited understanding and taste. Praise excites curiosity, inflames desire, and if the merits prove to be below your estimation—and they usually do—expectation deceived takes its revenge, repays the deception with scorn both of the praised and of the praiser.
Don't counter every objection.
Don't run after much, look for depth. The essence of greatness is not quantity, but quality. The wonderful is always unique and rare; what's more, it's not expensive.
Don't get caught up in obligations to everyone - you become a slave to everyone else... Better to have others depend on you than to depend on yourself
Don't push anything to the brink - a good reputation suffers from it.
Don't wait until the water is up to your neck, leave early; forestalls the cruelty of blows with mature judgment.
Don't lie, but don't tell the whole truth either. Nothing calls for more cautious handling than the truth—it is like a hemorrhage of the heart itself.
It's not good to be ignorant, but sometimes it's not bad to pretend to be ignorant. With a fool it is no use being wise, nor rational with a fool; speak to each in his own language.
You don't have to be just a pigeon. Combine the shyness of the dove with the cunning of the snake! The business man is easily deceived: he who does not lie to anyone, believes everyone; he who does not deceive trusts others. Deceit makes victims not only among fools, but also among honest ones. Two kinds of people can foresee and thwart a deception: the deceived, who have learned on their own skin, and the cunning, who pretend. Let shrewdness be as sharp and suspicious as cunning is skillful in intrigues, and you must not be so gentle as to push your neighbor to hypocrisy. By combining the dove and the snake, you do not become a monster, but a miracle worker.
You don't have to be spiritual all the time. Wisdom manifests itself in serious things, it is more precious than the talk of the spirit. He who is spiritual all the time is empty inside.
Don't start your life with what you have to finish. Each one rests at the beginning of the journey, leaving the difficult for later. No, the important things must be done first, and then, if there is time left, everything that is not important.
Don't give up right away, let the disappointment build up.
Do not overload yourself with either hardship or envy - you will drain your life and kill your spirit. Some extend these rules to knowledge - but he who does not know does not live.
Don't let yourself fall prey to mood swings. Great is he who is not under the sway of whims.
Not dealing with something is a lesser misfortune than indecisiveness.
It is not the flowing water that changes, but the standing water. Some don't take a step unless you prod them; and sometimes the cause lies not in the stupidity of the mind—their minds can be shrewd—but in the weakness of it.
Do not suffer from the disease of fools. Wise men, not infrequently, suffer from the shortcomings of reason. Fools, on the contrary, suffer from excess judgment.
Don't fret over discontent - that's lack of courage, but self-satisfaction is also lack of mind.
Don't rush to live. Do them all in their time - and they will all bring you joy. That is why life for many is too short: they indulged in joys too soon, did not enjoy themselves enough, and when they wanted to return, take them from where they are not.
Some appreciate the books by their thickness, as if they were written for manual, and not mental, exercises.