Ecclesiastes 7:1–12

¹A good name is better than precious ointment;

and the day of death, than the day of birth.

²It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting;

for this is the end of all men,

and the living will lay it to heart.

³Sorrow is better than laughter,

for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

⁵It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

than to hear the song of fools.

⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,

so is the laughter of the fools;

this also is vanity.

⁷Surely oppression makes the wise man foolish,

and a bribe corrupts the mind.

⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning;

and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

⁹Be not quick to anger,

for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,

an advantage to those who see the sun.

¹²For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money;

and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.