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A Bit of Wisdom From Over 4000 Years Ago

A Bit of Wisdom From Over 4000 Years Ago
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No one is born wise.

Don’t be arrogant in your knowledge, consult the ignorant and the wise.

The limits of art are not yet reached, and no artist’s skills are perfect.

Good speech is more hidden than greenstone, yet may be found among maids at the grindstones.

Know your helpers, then you prosper.

Be not mean to your friends, they are your watered field.

Greater are they than riches, for what belongs to one belongs to another.

A son-of-man’s character is profit to him; good nature is a memorial.

 

Attributed to Ptahhotep of Inebhedj [Memphis, Mīt Rahīna (Ruhainah)], Egypt, city administrator and vizier to King Djedkarec Izezi  of the Fifth Dynasty (ruled 2388-2356 BC). The Instruction of Ptahhotep to His Son, prologue, 1.35. Tr. Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian 
Literature A Book of Readings, Berkeley, UCalPress, 1976, 3 volumes, who dates the text stylistically to the latter part of the 6th dynasty, c.2250 BC.
Greenstone is thought to be the semiprecious green feldspar contemporarily known as amazonite

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