Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 - People Generally Do Not Know What Is Best For Them

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.
² 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.
³ Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.
⁴ The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.
⁵ It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools,
⁶ for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.