In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 14:3 Go To Proverbs 14
Gregory The Dialogist
AD 604
It is the way of haughty preachers that they are more desirous of strictly reproving their hearers even when distressed than they are to cherish them in a kindly manner. For they study more to chide and reprove faults than to encourage goodness with praise. They are anxious to appear superior to other people, and they are better pleased when anger raises their feelings than when love makes them equal. They always want to find something to smite sharply with reproof. As it is written, “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride,” because really he knows how to smite sharply but not to sympathize with humility. ..
