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[a]Do not answer fools according to their folly,
    lest you too become like them.
Answer fools according to their folly,
    lest they become wise in their own eyes.
Those who send messages by a fool
    cut off their feet; they drink down violence.

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Footnotes

  1. 26:4–5 There is no contradiction between these two proverbs. In their answers, the wise must protect their own interests against fools. Or perhaps the juxtaposition of the two proverbs suggests that no single proverb can resolve every problem in life.