Riferimento su Ecclesiaste 7:1

The passage “A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes, 7:1), Rabbi Levi explained with a parable. Two ships were once on the great sea. One of them was leaving the shore and the other was approaching it. It was then seen that the people on the ship leaving the shore were happy while some of those on the ship nearing the shore were sad. A wise man remarked: “We see here a strange sight. People who leave the shore should not be happy, for they know not how long they will be at sea and what winds they will encounter, but people who near the shore should be happy in the realization that they have safely reached dry land. It is likewise with the life of man. One should not reckon the years he had lived but rather should he reckon the time which still separates him from death.”¹³⁾בראשית רבה פּרשה מ״ח פּיסקא א׳.