Posted by Isiah on October 08, 2003 at 15:02:13:
In Reply to: Re: Wise or foolish? posted by Once Again on October 08, 2003 at 14:53:16:
It is biblical. It's Proverbs 14:16. Fear does not necessarily imply weakness or walking away. The statement 'depart from it' does not necessarily mean that you must, literally, depart from it - you can remove it. I am pretty sure the author was stating that a wise man handles the evil around him, that he does not allow it to handle him. A wise man understands that evil exists, that it is everywhere, that if he were to rely solely on himself (rage and be self-confident) that evil will overtake him.
The second half says that a fool rages, and is self-confident. I think this means that a fool believes that he can handle whatever needs to be handled himself - that he has all the tools he'll need, or that he can obtain them himself. The bible is full of this type of analogy.