《智慧书·第五辑·二〇一至二五〇》第21则
Do not seize Occasions to embarrass Yourself or Others. There are some men stumbling-blocks of good manners either for themselves or for others: they are always on the point of some stupidity. You meet with them easily and part from them uneasily. A hundred annoyances a day is nothing to them. Their humour always strokes the wrong way since they contradict all and every. They put on the judgment cap wrong side foremost and thus condemn all. Yet the greatest test of others' patience and prudence are just those who do no good and speak ill of all. There are many monsters in the wide realm of Indecorum.
注释摘要
这则格言的标题与正文是同一句话的延伸。“不要抓住时机让自己或别人尴尬”——这里的“时机”不是命运赐予的良机，而是日常交往中那些容易滑向失态、冲突、难堪的缝隙。葛拉西安描绘了一种几乎人人都遇到过的人：他们像活体的绊脚石，无论走到哪里都挡在自己和他人的礼貌之间。他们不是在某个时刻做了蠢事，而是永远处在即将做蠢事的临界点上。你很容易遇见他们，因为这种人并不躲藏；…