Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹³ This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and ^[a]it impressed me: ¹⁴ there was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. ¹⁵ But there was found in it a poor wise man, and he ^[b]saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are ^[c]ignored. ¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.