1. Better is a good reputation than precious oil and the day of death than the day of birth.
2. Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to the 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 though the face is sad, the 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. Better to hear a rebuke from the wise than to listen to the song of fools.
6. For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is vapor.
7. For extortion drives a wise man crazy, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8. Better the end of a matter than its beginning. Better a patient spirit than a proud one.
9. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the bosom of fools.
10. Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.
11. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and even better for those who see the sun.
12. For wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: wisdom preserves the life of the one who possesses it.
13. Consider the work of God, for who can straighten what He has bent?
14. In a time of prosperity, prosper! But in a time of adversity, consider: God has made one as well as the other. Therefore man cannot discover anything about his future.
15. During my fleeting days I have seen both of these things: sometimes a righteous one perishes in his righteousness and sometimes a wicked one lives long in his wickedness.
16. Do not be overly righteous nor overly wise— why confound yourself?
17. Do not be overly wicked and do not be a fool— why die before your time?