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The wisdom of Solomon stands in sharp contrast to our modern systems, which often direct men's attention everywhere but inward.
The proverb's geography matters—the north wind's effect depends on terrain, just as righteous anger's effect depends on its proper object.
The coward's shame lies not in what he speaks, but in what he leaves unsaid—his refusal to act.
Some possess remarkable skill in dwelling exclusively upon dark things: black aspects, wintry phases, deprivations, bereavements, losses.
Exell's commentary on Proverbs 20:17, the love of pleasure stands as "the secret of the failure of nine-tenths of our unsuccessful young men." The wise man identifies pleasure—particularly when pursued as *hedone* (self-gratification)—as fundamentally opposed to material and spiritual prosperity.
Joseph Exell's Victorian exposition clarifies what spiritual liberty truly means.
Yet the mind claims a sovereignty over the body that the body can never assert in return.
You cannot bring forth the best in someone if you do not believe the best exists within him.
Mystery envelops human existence—commonest objects raise unanswerable questions—yet from this unknowable realm emerge four irreversible certainties.
Exell's Victorian commentary illuminates three fatal substitutes for love-driven charity.
He returned from spiritual captivity as Ezra had returned from bodily captivity, and to his renewed mind all things appeared new.
Exell's 1887 commentary illuminates this paradox of proximity: practical presence surpasses emotional kinship when assistance is required.
The vast region of human sorrow appears to most a dark and dreary desert.
He writes, "These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes." Rather than naming the false teachers at Corinth who had created divisions, Paul applies his corrective principles to himself and Apollos—respected...
First, *Satan* (Hebrew: adversary, opponent) is not mere allegory but a real spiritual being, the prince of darkness and accuser of mankind (Job 1:7; Revelation 12:9).
It is through blindness and inconsonsideration that any man becomes entangled in the snares of the foolish woman.
Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." — Psalm 19:12 Sin possesses a remarkable tenacity and cunning.
The Pharisees came, bound by scrupulous external observance and self-satisfied pride.
Their *sedulity*—their persistent, uninterrupted devotion—admitted no indifference in their religious offices.
While all persons possess some sense of duty rooted deeply in the human heart, the constant strife between inclination and principle generates contradiction in conduct.
This text reveals a profound truth: bodily satisfaction depends entirely upon the soul's condition.
Exell observes that science itself demonstrates this principle: the passions of grief, disappointment, anger, jealousy, and revenge derange the bodily system in proportion to their strength, while pleasurable emotions rooted in moral virtue give buoyancy and vigor to the body.
Man suffers equally under two extremes: subjected without redress to another's passions, or abandoned to the dominion of his own.
The present is intimately related to the future, and the future will faithfully reflect the character.