Now they are returning home and the unemployed mason , who is also a preacher , quotes ecclesiastes : " a time to be born and a time to die , a time to plant and a time to uproot . " No dying today , he adds with a grin .
King solomon , the wisest man in history , advised the readers of his book of ecclesiastes that they should not allow their heart to harbor anxiety , because they cannot even depend on their own youthful vigor to solve their problems .
To paraphrase ecclesiastes , better to be a scarred and living dog than to be a dead lion .
套用传道书的说法,做一个伤痕累累但活着的狗要好过变成一只死去的狮子。
As the bible puts it in that same verse from ecclesiastes : " time and chance happeneth to them all . "
正如《圣经》在传道书的同一诗句里所言:“所临到众人的,是在乎当时的机会。”
The bible says , " if you wait for perfect conditions , you will never get anything done " ( ecclesiastes 11:4 nlt ) .
圣经上说,“你要是等待一个完美的时机才做事,你就做不成任何事。”传道书11:4
As the bible puts it in that same verse from ecclesiastes : " time and chance happeneth to them all . " Or , in runyon 's computation of the odds governing human endeavour , " all life is six to five against . "