Ecclesiastes 7:2
Verse 2 of 29. The 7th of 12 chapters in Ecclesiastes, in Poetry and Wisdom.
1A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
2It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
3Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
King James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.