Ecclesiastes 7:6-8

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!

⁷ Surely oppression and extortion make a wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the understanding and judgment.

⁸ Better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.