And I gave my heart to getting knowledge of wisdom, and of the ways of the foolish. And I saw that this again was desire for wind.

Of laughter I said, 'Foolish!' and of mirth, 'What is this it is doing?'

I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life.

And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.

Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.

Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

And who knoweth whether he is wise or foolish? yet he doth rule over all my labour that I have laboured at, and that I have done wisely under the sun! this also is vanity.

The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

Put your feet down with care when you go to the house of God, for it is better to give ear than to make the burned offerings of the foolish, whose knowledge is only of doing evil.

As a dream comes from much business, so the voice of a foolish man comes with words in great number.

When you take an oath before God, put it quickly into effect, because he has no pleasure in the foolish; keep the oath you have taken.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?

Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?

The hearts of the wise are in the house of weeping; but the hearts of the foolish are in the house of joy.

It is better to take note of the protest of the wise, than for a man to give ear to the song of the foolish.

Like the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.

Surely extortion maketh the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroyeth the understanding.

Be not quick to let your spirit be angry; because wrath is in the heart of the foolish.

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

I gave my mind to knowledge and to searching for wisdom and the reason of things, and to the discovery that sin is foolish, and that to be foolish is to be without one's senses.

This is evil in all things which are done under the sun: that there is one fate for all, and the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; while they have life their hearts are foolish, and after that--to the dead.

Have joy with the woman of your love all the days of your foolish life which he gives you under the sun. Because that is your part in life and in your work which you do under the sun.

The words of the wise which come quietly to the ear are noted more than the cry of a ruler among the foolish.

Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.

The heart of the wise man goes in the right direction; but the heart of a foolish man in the wrong.

And when the foolish man is walking in the way, he has no sense and lets everyone see that he is foolish.

The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.

The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction.

He begins by saying what is foolish and ends by uttering what is wicked delusion.

The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him?

The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.