© BloomsburyCompanion: A self-help guide for women of 18th century Britain offers advice on how to fend off the advances of men and was said to be essential reading for 'virgins, wives and widows'
She that listens to wanton discourse has violated her ears.
This stern warning may sound a little severe - but in 1740 it was seen as essential to preserving the honour of many a blushing maiden.
It is among hundreds of pearls of wisdom dispensed in one of Britain's first self-help books, written to help women resist life's temptations.
Grandly titled
The Lady's Companion: or an Infallible Guide to the Fair Sex, it features advice on everything from baking to fending off the advances of lusty men.
The rare book, which has just surfaced in a private collection, claims to be essential reading for 'virgins, wives or widows'.
Experts believe it is one of the earliest examples of the modern self-help book - proving that while many things have changed in the last three centuries, we've always had a weakness for so-called 'expert advice'.
Among the gems on offer is a warning to virgins that having impure thoughts is a 'deflowering of the mind'.
Meanwhile wives are advised that their duty to their husbands is 'first to his person, secondly to his reputation; thirdly to his fortune'.