7 A good name is better than precious ointment;
and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

² It 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 will lay it to his heart.
³ Sorrow is better than laughter:
for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
⁴ The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning;
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
⁵ It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise,
than for a man to hear the song of fools.
⁶ For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fool:
this also is vanity.
⁷ Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad;
and a gift destroyeth the heart.
⁸ Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof:
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.