Be quick to hear, and be deliberate in answering: You can afford to give an attentive ear to anyone; listening to people can only enhance your reputation. Responding is another matter, since it’s what you say that can hurt you—or others. The text literally says “Be quick in your hearing and in patience utter an answer.” It seems to mean “Always be ready to listen, but when you answer, don’t say a word without thinking it through carefully.” Good News Translation implies this pretty clearly. Compare Pro 18.13 and James 1.19. Contemporary English Version keeps the poetic format with:

• Be willing to listen to anyone,
but think before you answer.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Sirach. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.