The End of the Wise and the Fool

Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king?— Only what he has already done.

The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.

So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”

For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

Popularity Passes Away

Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools.

Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart.

Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?

Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city.

All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.

Obey Authorities for God’s Sake

Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.

He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,

then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

Death Comes to All

For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.

I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.

Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.

Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But a fool’s heart at his left.

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;

The Whole Duty of Man

And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.