Of the friendlessness of the poor there are these pathetic proverbs: _Wealth addeth many friends, But the poor is separated even from the friend he hath_ (Pr. 19^{4}). _The poor is hated even of his own neighbour, But the rich hath many friends_ (Pr. 14^{20}).[51] And this from Ben Sirach: _My son, deprive not the poor of his living, And make not the needy eyes to wait long_ (E. 4^{1}). Do not those eyes stare hungrily from the proverb, and seem to gaze after us as we hurry on? A sterner note is heard in this almost ironical observation: _A rich man toileth in gathering money, and when he resteth he is filled with his good things: A poor man toileth in lack of substance, and when he resteth he cometh to want_ (E. 31^{3}). Two beautiful passages in the _Book of Proverbs_ recognise that the problem of success goes deeper than riches: _Better a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted ox and hatred therewith_ (Pr. 15^{17}). _Remove far from me vanity and lies: Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is needful for me:[52] Lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor, and steal, And use profanely the name of my God_ (Pr. 30^{8, 9}). Both grand sayings. The last is a really noble prayer for the Golden Mean, and at the same time an effective accusation which we know to be only too true of many self-confident rich men on the one hand, and many embittered poor men on the other. Finally, let us ruminate on the fact that wealth and dyspepsia are old acquaintances: _Better is a poor man, being sound and of good constitution, than a rich man that is plagued in his body_, says Ben Sirach (E. 30^{14}); and doubtless he had plenty of shocking examples to confirm his opinion, if there be any truth in Poseidonius’ description of the Hellenic cities whose citizens “practically lived in the banqueting halls,” and were wont to pocket what they could not there devour. In the next place we may turn to proverbs dealing with character. Fastening upon one outstanding quality, for the moment they identify the personality with it. And if that is never entirely fair to any human being--because even the best of us is, for instance, never perfectly brave, nor the worst of us wholly mean--nevertheless it is good to be told bluntly whither the bias of our nature tends. To isolate the Virtues and the Vices and to hold them up for praise or blame has ever been a favourite and a successful method of moral education.