Study Desk

Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.

There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-

for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"- but this was beyond me.

Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound- who can discover it?

So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is.

If a ruler's anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great errors to rest.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.

I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.

Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.

If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.

If a snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.

Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips.

At the beginning his words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness-

and the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming- who can tell him what will happen after him?

A fool's work wearies him; he does not know the way to town.

Woe to you, O land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, O land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time- for strength and not for drunkenness.

If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.

A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.

Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.

Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie.

Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.