¹A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one ’s birth .

²It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting ; for that is the end of all men , and the living should take this to heart .

³Sorrow is better than laughter ; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good .

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 to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools .

⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot , so is the laughter of the fool . This also is vanity .

⁷Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish ; and a bribe destroys the understanding .

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

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

⁹Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry , for anger rests in the bosom of fools .

¹⁰Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these ?” For you do not ask wisely about this .

¹¹Wisdom is as good as an inheritance . Yes , it is more excellent for those who see the sun .

¹²For wisdom is a defence , even as money is a defence ; but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it .

¹³Consider the work of God , for who can make that straight which he has made crooked ?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful , and in the day of adversity consider ; yes , God has made the one side by side with the other , to the end that man should not find out anything after him .

¹⁵All this I have seen in my days of vanity : there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness , and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.

¹⁶Don’t be overly righteous , neither make yourself overly wise . Why should you destroy yourself?

¹⁷Don’t be too wicked , neither be foolish . Why should you die before your time ?

¹⁸It is good that you should take hold of this . Yes , also don’t withdraw your hand from that ; for he who fears God will come out of them all .

¹⁹Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city .

²⁰Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and doesn’t sin .

²¹Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken , lest you hear your servant curse you ;

²²for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others .

²³All this I have proved in wisdom . I said, “I will be wise ;” but it was far from me .

²⁴That which is , is far off and exceedingly deep . Who can find it out ?

²⁵I turned around , and my heart sought to know and to search out , and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness .

²⁶I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her ; but the sinner will be ensnared by her .

²⁷“Behold , I have found this ,” says the Preacher , “to one another , to find an explanation

²⁸which my soul still seeks , but I have not found . I have found one man amongst a thousand, but I have not found a woman amongst all those .

²⁹Behold , I have only found this : that God made mankind upright ; but they search for many inventions .”