“The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.”

Reading this verse in context

This page shows one verse on its own, which is rarely how it was written. Proverbs 17 contains 28 verses, and the sentences either side usually decide what this one means. Read the whole chapter before you quote it.

Text: World English Bible, Protestant edition (engwebp), eBible.org — public domain.