Who knows well what he knows.
54. "It is well to be wise; not well
To be too wise.
The wise man's heart is not glad
When he knows too much.
55. "Two burning sticks placed together
Will burn entirely away.
Man grows bright by the side of man;
Alone, he remains stupid."
Such are the proverbs of the Havamal. This sort of proverbial wisdom may have come down from the days when the ancestors of the Scandinavians left Central Asia. It is like the fables and maxims of the Hitopadesá.[327]