Ecclesiastes 7:2-12

²It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; inasmuch as that is the end of all men: and let the living lay it to his heart.

³Better is vexation than laughing; for through the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of joy.

⁵It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than that a man should hear the song of fools.

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

⁷For exercising oppression maketh a wise man mad; and bribery corrupteth the heart.

⁸Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: better is the patient in spirit than the proud in spirit.

⁹Be not rash in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in bosom of fools.

¹⁰Thou must not say, How was it that the former days were better than these? for it is not out of wisdom that thou askest concerning this.

¹¹Wisdom is better than an inheritance, yea, preferable for those that see the sun;

¹²For under the shadow of wisdom a man is equally well as under the shadow of money; but the superior excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to him that possesseth it.