The End of Man and the Nature of Mourning

Or that to go into a house of feasting, since this is the end of every man, and the living one will give good in his heart. Blessedness is the end of man.

If the Lord blesses mourning in the Gospels: 'For blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted' (Matt 5:4), then Solomon rightly says that mourning is the end of man, which fills those living in it with spiritual goods. A good temper is better than laughter, because in wickedness the face will be made good (Eccl 7:3). The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, and the heart of fools is in a house of mirth (Eccl 7:4). It is good to hear the rebuke of a wise man rather than the songs of fools listening to a man (Eccl 7:5). For just as the sound of thorns under a pot is so, so is the laughter of fools; and this too is vanity (Eccl 7:6). For flattery turns the wise man and destroys the firmness of his heart (Eccl 7:7).

When the temper, striving for virtue, is directed toward the demons, it is strong and praiseworthy; but when it contends with men over perishable things, it becomes trivial. Therefore, what he says here is such: that the fool is made good in wickedness and laughs and rejoices in it, neither rejecting shameful songs nor allowing laughter to corrupt his soul like the crackling of thorns in a fire; but the righteous one rages against such passions and is indignant, and considers it better to have mourning than such mirth, or the rebuke of a wise man against such songs; and he calls such a life vanity and flattery, easily deceiving the heart of the wise and dissolving its firmness in the virtues.

The last words are better than the first words of Creon, says the poet of the law, rather than the listener of the law (Eccl 7:8). For the first words of instruction are called words, but the last words are called words of works, if indeed words are called good words because of good works. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger is in the belly of fools (Eccl 7:9).