1. Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
2. Better to go unto a house of mourning, Than to go unto a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living layeth [it] unto his heart.
3. Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better.
4. The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth.
5. Better to hear a rebuke of a wise man, Than [for] a man to hear a song of fools,
6. For as the noise of thorns under the pot, So [is] the laughter of a fool, even this [is] vanity.
7. Surely oppression maketh the wise mad, And a gift destroyeth the heart.
8. Better [is] the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better [is] the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit.
9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.
10. Say not thou, `What was it, That the former days were better than these?' For thou hast not asked wisely of this.