When to Answer a Fool and When to Stay Silent

Midrash Mishlei 26:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly" (Proverbs 26:4) - what is written after it? "Answer a fool according to his folly" (Proverbs 26:5)! Rav Huna said: "Do not answer a fool according to his folly" - in a place where they know you and know him, "lest you become like him yourself," so that they not say, 'Come and see a wise man trading words back and forth with the fool.' "Answer a fool according to his folly" - Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: in a place where they do not know you and do not know him. Why? "Lest he be wise in his own eyes," so that they not say, 'Were he not under suspicion in the matters he speaks about, the wise man would not have stayed silent before him.'

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