A HOUSE OF FOOLS
by Thomas Brooks
The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or Holiness the Only Way to Happiness, 1662

The heart of fools is in the house of pleasure. Ecclesiastes 7.4

A fool prefers toys and trifles above things of greatest worth. Just so, wicked and ungodly men prefer their lusts before the Lord. Upon choice, they prefer the honors, the riches, and glory of the world above their own souls and the great concerns of eternity.

I have read of the foolish people of Ceylon who preferred a consecrated ape's tooth above an incredible mass of treasure. Such fools are all unholy people who prefer the toys, the trifles of this world above the pleasures and treasures which are at God's right hand.

The world is full of such fools. says one, if you behold the lives of men, you will judge the whole world to be a house of fools. Ah, friends, what folly can be compared to that of men spending their time, their strength, their lives, their souls, in getting the great things of this world, and neglecting that one thing necessary, the salvation of their souls,

Oh, what vanity is it to prefer

A smoke of honour,
a blast of fame,
A dream of pleasure,
a wedge of gold,
A Babylonish garment,
and such like
Transistory trifles and trash,
Before a blessed eternity!