Ecclesiastes 4:2
Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
More from Ecclesiastes 4
Verse 1
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
Verse 3
Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Verse 4
Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Verse 5
The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.