CONCERNING PROVERBS.

that we should observe it in using adages: namely, that we should use them not like food, but like condiments; that is, not for satiety, but for grace. Furthermore, not in just any place. Then, not too frequently. In familiar letters, however, it will be permitted to play with this genre a little more freely.

The varied use of proverbs.

The use of proverbs can be varied so that you may accommodate the same saying to several meanings. To have one example of this matter: A leaking jar original: "Pertusum dolium" can be applied either to a greedy person, a wasteful one, or an ungrateful one. For whatever you pour into the mind of a forgetful person flows out. Nothing lasts with a spendthrift. The greed of a miser is never satisfied. A frivolous and talkative person holds nothing.