The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

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THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR/EUS.
"affliction?" He replied, "Fear cometh into being be-
"fore tribulation cometh, but affliction after it."
U^ CLXIV. The perfection of the rhetorical art is to be
able to make truth wear the guise of falsehood, and
that which is false the garb of truth; and to force men
to the doing of that from which they would rather
be excused, and to keep them back from the doing
of that which they earnestly desire to do; and that
not by force but by the ready will of those who hearken
unto it."
Jjf CLXV. Another sage said, "Silence is the sleep of
"the mind and speech is its waking state, and when
"either sleep or waking is in moderation the mind is
"praiseworthy; and whether it be asleep or awake it
"is meet that it should be praised."
CLXVL Another sage said, "I have often repented
"that I have spoken, but very rarely that I have held
"my peace."
i^ CLXVII. Another sage said, "As long as a word
jf
"remaineth unspoken it is in the prison of him that
"wished to speak, but when once it hath been spoken
"the speaker thereof becometh its prisoner."
CLXVIII. Another sage said, "Beware of speaking
"overmuch, for much speaking is a wide gulf wherein
**stumbling-blocks are exceedingly many."
CLXIX. Another sage said, "If animals which are to
"be eaten had been sent to the .... of death, even
**like man, the flesh which is fat would never have
"been eaten."
y CLXX. Another sage said, "Blessed is he who is
"occupied with his own defects, for he will not make
"it a care unto him to pry into the weaknesses of his
"companions."