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People Generally Do Not Know What is Best for Them

A good name is better than precious ointment,
    and the day of death is better than the day of one’s birth.
Better to go to the house of mourning
    than to go to the house of feasting,
for death is the end of every person,
    and the living should take it to his heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of countenance the heart is made good.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Better to listen to the rebuke of the wise
    than for a man to listen to the song of fools.
Like the sound of thorns under a pot,
    so also the laughter of fools.
This also is vanity!

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Wise Sayings

A good name is better than fine perfume,(A)
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.(B)
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
since that is the end of all mankind,
and the living should take it to heart.(C)
Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.(D)
The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,(E)
for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,(F)
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.

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