The Value of Wisdom

7 A good name is better than fine perfume,

and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

2 It is better to enter a house of mourning

than a house of feasting,

since death is the end of every man,

and the living should take this to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter,

for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

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

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

5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke

than to listen to the song of fools.

6 For like the crackling of thorns under the pot,

so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

7 Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 The end of a matter is better than the beginning,

and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.

9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,

for anger settles in the lap of a fool.[fn]

10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”

For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good,

and it benefits those who see the sun.

12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter,

and the advantage of knowledge

is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.

13 Consider the work of God:

Who can straighten what He has bent?

14 In the day of prosperity, be joyful,

but in the day of adversity, consider this:

God has made one of these along with the other,

so that a man cannot discover

anything that will come after him.