Sirach 27:4-7

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁴ When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains;
    so a man’s filth remains in his thoughts.
⁵ The kiln tests the potter’s vessels;
    so the test of a man is in his reasoning.
⁶ The fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree;
    so the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a man’s mind.
⁷ Do not praise a man before you hear him reason,
    for this is the test of men.