Sirach 20:16-18

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

¹⁶ The fool says, ‘I have no friends,
    and I get no thanks for my good deeds.
    Those who eat my bread are evil-tongued.’
¹⁷ How many will ridicule him, and how often!^[a]

¹⁸ A slip on the pavement is better than a slip of the tongue;
    the downfall of the wicked will occur just as speedily.