10. Whatever presents itself for you to do, do it with ⌊all⌋ your might, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or skill in the grave where you’re going.
11. I saw something else under the sun. The race isn’t ⌊won⌋ by fast runners, or the battle by heroes. Wise people don’t necessarily have food. Intelligent people don’t necessarily have riches, and skilled people don’t necessarily receive special treatment. But time and unpredictable events overtake all of them.
12. No one knows when his time will come. Like fish that are caught in a cruel net or birds caught in a snare, humans are trapped by a disaster when it suddenly strikes them.
13. I also have seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it made a deep impression on me.
14. There was a small town with a few soldiers in it, and a powerful king came to attack it. He surrounded it and blockaded it.
15. A poor, wise person was found in that town. He saved the town using his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor person.
16. So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength,” even though that poor person’s wisdom was despised, and no one listened to what he said.
17. One should pay more attention to calm words from wise people than shouting from a ruler of fools.