Study Desk

It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.

But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.

Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night's sleep.

God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn't give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.

A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn't even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead.

He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what's the use?

All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.

Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.

Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, "I am determined to be wise." But it didn't work.

I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path."

But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.

It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.

A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him.

Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words.