Ecclesiastes 7:5-12

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 oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.

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

⁹Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

¹⁰Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.

¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

¹²For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.