Again I saw under the sun: the race is not to the swift, nor is the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. Surely, no one knows when his time will come. As fish are caught in a deadly net, or birds are caught in a snare, the children of human beings are ensnared by evil times that suddenly fall upon them. I have also seen wisdom under the sun in a way that seemed great to me. There was a small city with only a few men in it, and a great king came against it, he surrounded it and built great siege ramps against it. Now in the city was found a poor, wise man, who by his wisdom saved the city. Yet later, no one remembered that same poor man. So I concluded, "Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." The words of wise people spoken quietly are heard better than the shouts of any ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can ruin much good.
