He that speaks first in his own cause seems just; until his neighbor comes and examines him.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 18:17 Go To Proverbs 18
Basil the Great
AD 379
Speak not in your own praise, nor contrive that others do so. Do not listen to indecent talk. Conceal insofar as you can your own superior gifts. On the other hand, where sin is concerned, be your own accuser, and do not wait for others to make the accusation. Thus, you will be like a just man who accuses himself in the first speech made in court, or like Job who was not deterred by the crowd of people in the city from declaring his personal guilt before all. .
