Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like unto him.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 26:4 Go To Proverbs 26
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
[David] used not to answer the enemy that provoked him, the sinner that exasperated him. As he says elsewhere, “As though he were deaf he heard not them that speak vanity and imagine deceit, and as though he were dumb he opened not his mouth to them.” Again, in another place, it is said, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like to him.” The first duty then is to have due measure in our speech. In this way a sacrifice of praise is offered up to God. Thus a godly fear is shown when sacred Scriptures are read. Thus parents are honored. I know well that many speak because they know not how to keep silence. But it is not often that any one is silent when speaking does not profit him. A wise person, intending to speak, first carefully considers what he is to say and to whom he is to say it; also where and what time. –.
