Ecclesiastes 7:5 says, It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.  We like to hear people praise us, even if it is for the wrong reason.  We usually like to hear that we were the life of the party instead of the spoil sport.  Sometimes, the more foolish our behavior, the more those around us, who are acting foolish themselves, are apt to tell us how great we were.  Solomon warns us that it is better to hear someone who is wise, which I think means living under God's leadership, rebuke us than to be praised by those living under the power of sin.  We often hear people say that they don't want to listen to a Bible thumper, as if that is one of the worst things could ever happen.  Now, we don't want to beat people over the head with the Bible, as it were, condemning the sinner and not the sin, but we must stand against, or rebuke, sinful behavior.  If we are truly God's people, we will recognize the truth of the rebuke being better, and if we aren't, we will seek the praises of the world.  Verse six says, For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.  When we are trying to heat something on a fire, we don't want crackling and popping, but a slow, steady flame.  The crackling and popping contribute little to real heat, and actually may do more damage than good.  Solomon said that the laughter of the fool is the same way.  It contributes nothing of value to life.  We may want to excuse certain things as only talk, but the Bible teaches us that our words should bring glory to God.  Once again, we cannot divide life into the secular and the spiritual.  We cannot justify our words and actions in the world by claiming that they don't matter from a spiritual perspective.  As followers of Christ, everything we do is done from a spiritual perspective.  We cannot be popping off useless words and doing things contrary to God's teaching and leadership and contribute anything of real value to His kingdom.