Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)

Proverbs 26:4 [KJV (1611)]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

Do not answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear you grow like him yourself.
[JB (1966)]

If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it.
[GNT (1976)]

Do not answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear you grow like him yourself.
[NJB (1985)]

Don’t answer fools according to their folly,
or you will become like them yourself.
[CEB (2011)]

Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you be a fool yourself.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Do not answer a dullard in accord with his folly,
Else you will become like him.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]