Proverbs 14:6

Proverbs 14:6. A scorner seeketh wisdom, &c.— He that comes to seek after knowledge, says Lord Bacon, with a mind to scorn and censure, shall be sure to find matter enough for his humour, but none for instruction; one reason of which is, that this humour of deriding all things, in men of this kind, springs from a great pride and conceit of their own wit, which disposes them to seek for wisdom, not from others, but wholly from themselves; and so, as the wise man observes, they are not likely to find it where it is not to be had: when he who attributes less to himself, and hath the humility to listen to instruction, in a short time attains to great wisdom. See Advancement of Learning, b. vii. c. 2. and Bishop Patrick.