"Make friends with those of good char-ac-ter, if you care for your own rep-u-ta-tion, for it is bet-ter to be a-lone than in bad com-pa-ny.
"Speak not of dole-ful things in time of mirth, nor at the ta-ble; speak not of mourn-ful things, as death, and wounds, and if o-thers men-tion them, change, if you can, the dis-course.
"Ut-ter not base and fool-ish things 'mongst grave and learn-ed men; nor hard ques-tions or sub-jects a-mong the ig-no-rant; nor things hard to be believed.
"Be not for-ward, but friendly and court-e-ous; the first to sa-lute, hear, and an-swer; and be not pen-sive when it is time to con-verse.
"Gaze not on the marks or blem-ish-es of o-thers, and ask not how they came.
"Think be-fore you speak, pro-nounce not im-per-fect-ly, nor bring out your words too hast-i-ly, but or-der-ly and dis-tinct-ly.
"Treat with men at fit times a-bout bus-i-ness; and whis-per not in the com-pa-ny of o-thers.
"Be not cu-ri-ous to know the af-fairs of o-thers, nor go near to those that speak in pri-vate.
"Un-der-take not to do what you can-not per-form, but be care-ful to keep your prom-ise.