Wisdom, folly, teachability, and moral perception — Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn…

Scorners can snare a whole city; the wise can turn the same heat away

Scornful people bring a city into a snare, but wise people turn away wrath. If a wise person contends with a foolish person, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest. The bloodthirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul. A fool utters all his mind, but a wise person keeps it in until afterward.

Scorn is public sneering that makes serious civic work look contemptible; a city can be trapped by that mood. Wise turning away of wrath is de-escalation that still tells the truth, not flattery of a mob. Contending with a fool has no rest because rage and mockery are both ways of not hearing. Bloodthirsty hatred of the upright is real; seeking his soul is the just person's opposite instinct: they want the person alive.

Keeping the mind in until afterward is timed speech, not a stuffed life

Uttering all your mind is dumping every thought as it arrives. Afterward is the pause in which wisdom chooses what must be said. The saying does not praise concealment of needed warning, and it does not shame people who speak plainly because they have less social cover.

City, quarrel, murderous hate, and ungoverned speech are one weather system. The wise person's tools are turning wrath, refusing the fool's game, seeking life, and delaying the dump.