17. Withdraw thy foot. The first clause reads literally, “Make your foot precious [that is, rare] in the house of your friend.” In the scale of fallible human values, that which is rare is precious and that which is plentiful, of relatively less value. It is easy to wear out one’s welcome by being too frequent a visitor. Familiarity often breeds contempt except where the close ties of family relationship bind hearts ever closer together. Without such close mutual love, constant association on a social level, after the element of novelty has gone, tends to reveal weaknesses and breed a weariness that may easily turn to dislike.