Charles Ellicott Commentary Proverbs 19:1

"Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity Than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool." — Proverbs 19:1 (ASV)

Perverse in his lips— One who distorts the truth; translated “froward” in Proverbs 4:24. That a rich man is here intended appears likely from the parallel passage in Proverbs 28:6.