If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position, for a calm response can undo great offenses.

One who quarries stones may be injured by them; one who splits logs may be endangered by them.

At the beginning his words are foolish and at the end his talk is wicked madness,

The Teacher sought to find delightful words, and to write accurately truthful sayings.

I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine (all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives.

For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!

I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.

Let your clothes always be white, and do not spare precious ointment on your head.

No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.

Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?

One dead fly makes the perfumer’s ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.

I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.

Do not let your mouth cause you to sin, and do not tell the priest, “It was a mistake!” Why make God angry at you so that he would destroy the work of your hands?”

I discovered this: More bitter than death is the kind of woman who is like a hunter’s snare; her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is captured by her.

Better is one handful with some rest than two hands full of toil and chasing the wind.

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people:

though it never saw the light of day nor knew anything, yet it has more rest than that man –