(in line with all the above interpretations) give greater honor to the wisdom they despise, and to words to which none of them thinks fit to listen.* 9:17 The words of the wise are heard in quietness, more than the clamor of one having power among fools. Whenever you see anyone loud-mouthed in the church, stirring applause, raising a laugh, and working his hearers up into a happy mood by means of a kind of meretricious charm of language, take it that that is a sign of senselessness on the speaker’s