SHUNNING OVER-FAMILIARITY
DO NOT open your heart to
every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears
God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn
upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great.
Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and
virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things. Be not intimate with
any woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the
intimacy of God and of His angels, and avoid the notice of men.
We ought to have charity
for all men but familiarity with all is not expedient. Sometimes it
happens that a person enjoys a good reputation among those who do not
know him, but at the same time is held in slight regard by those who
do. Frequently we think we are pleasing others by our presence and we
begin rather to displease them by the faults they find in us. |
Of the danger of too much familiarity
Open not thine heart to every
man, but deal with one who is wise and feareth God. Be seldom with the
young and with strangers. Be not a flatterer of the rich; nor
willingly seek the society of the great. Let thy company be the
humble and the simple, the devout and the gentle, and let thy
discourse be concerning things which edify. Be not familiar with any
woman, but commend all good women alike unto God. Choose for thy
companions God and His Angels only, and flee from the notice of men.
2. We must love all men, but not
make close companions of all. It sometimes falleth out that one who is
unknown to us is highly regarded through good report of him, whose
actual person is nevertheless unpleasing to those who behold it. We
sometimes think to please others by our intimacy, and forthwith
displease them the more by the faultiness of character which they
perceive in us. |