Without discretion learning is pedantry and wit impertinence; virtue itself looks like weakness. The best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly in errors, and active to his own prejudice.

Meaning: A book can reflect something of the person who made it. Notice the connection between a work and its creator’s interests or manner without treating the text as a complete portrait of their character.

Meaning: Early guidance can shape later habits while they are still developing. The flexible twig pictures that opportunity, without establishing that a person’s future is fixed or that harsh discipline is justified.

Meaning: Deeply established habits can seem inseparable from a person. The bone-and-flesh image emphasises persistence, but its word never overstates the point: early patterns can be questioned and changed, and they do not prove an unalterable inherited character.

Meaning: Your own mistakes can teach caution, but another person’s experience may offer the same lesson without the same cost. Listen for relevant lessons before repeating an avoidable error.