“A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1 KJV).
Having a good name is the same as having good character. It’s having a good reputation. It’s being known for having integrity. Being poor with a good name is better than being rich and able to afford the expensive, precious ointment or cologne and having a bad name.
Character is better than cologne. Cologne makes a person smell better, but good character makes a better person. Cologne makes a place smell better, but good character makes the place better.
Dying is better than living. Solomon praised the dead more than the living because they had been freed from the oppression that is done “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 4:2). Solomon repeatedly praised the unborn infant because he never lived in this world of sin and sorrow (Ecclesiastes 4:3; 6:3) (cf. Job 3:16-18).
When a person is born, they enter into a fallen world full of sinners, of which they themselves are one. They enter a “rat race” with a “dog-eats-dog” mentality. They enter a world of greed and covetousness; of seeking and pursuing happiness and satisfaction, but never finding it. They become part of a humanity that is rich and full but never fulfilled. As King Solomon said, the way of the world is “vanity and vexation of spirit.”
Death is better in the sense that it removes us from the race and the madness, the violence, crime and oppression. Death puts an end to our striving and pursuing; our dealings, our planning, our intimidations and manipulations (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6).
This world is as bad as it gets for a Christian. This world is the only Hell they will ever know. At death, the best is yet to come, for they are ushered into Heaven and into the presence of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
But this world is as good as it gets for a lost person. This world is the only Heaven they will know. At death, the worst is yet to come, for they are driven into Hell (Job 18:18), where they will be eternally separated from God and His glory and tormented day and night in its eternal flames (Revelation 20:11-15).
Death is better for the lost because it cuts off their life of sin, which determines their degree of suffering in Hell. It’s better to die with a short criminal record against Heaven than to die with a long criminal record against Heaven. The 80-year-old criminal will wish, at the judgment, that he died very young.