"parents with falsehoods to avoid exposure of their wrong course. There are those who seek the society of corrupt companions and secretly visit saloons and other forbidden places of resort in the city. There are students who visit the billiard rooms, and who engage in card playing, flattering themselves that there is no danger. Since their object is merely amusement, they feel perfectly safe. It is not the lower grade alone who do this. Some who have been carefully reared, and educated to look upon such things with abhorrence, are venturing upon the forbidden ground. 4T 651.2"
"My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:"
The EGW passage warns against associating with corrupt individuals and visiting forbidden places, directly echoing the proverb's advice to avoid the path of the wicked.
"The young should be controlled by firm principle, that they may rightly improve the powers which God has given them. But youth follow impulse so much and so blindly, without reference to principle, that they are constantly in danger. Since they cannot always have the guidance and protection of parents and guardians they need to be trained to self-reliance and self-control. They must be taught to think and act from conscientious principle. 4T 651.3"
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
EGW emphasizes the importance of firm principles and self-control to guide youth, aligning with Proverbs 4:23's call to diligently guard the heart, as it determines the course of life.