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There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
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I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
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So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
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But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
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Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
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Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
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Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.
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Fear God
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.
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It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
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If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
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Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
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The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
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It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
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Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
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It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.
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Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
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Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
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And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
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But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
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Wisdom Better Than Folly
Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
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But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
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The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
