Ecclesiastes 7:7  says, Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.  Matthew Henry discusses this two ways.  One is with the wise man being oppressed and the other as the wise man seeing the oppression of others.  I hadn't really thought of it from the point of view of the wise man being oppressed, but I can see this as a valid view.  There are many wise people today who live under oppression.  Not all rulers are wise people, especially in the eyes of God, which is where all wisdom comes from, and a person who is wise, especially in the eyes of God, will be made mad by living under such oppression.  Matthew Henry says that this could lead to a wise person acting foolishly.  Though I can see this view, I believe this speaks more to the wise man seeing the oppression of others.  So many people in the world today live under oppression that we as God's followers should be mad about it.  We too often look at the world and see only the threat of the oppressors and not the plight of the oppressed.  As long as we can get the oppressors, we don't care what happens to the oppressed.  If a new set of oppressors who are friendly to us are put in power, we aren't concerned.  This is not the way God calls His people to be.  Now, the second half of the verse says a gift destroys the heart.  I believe this is saying that if we are given enough personal gain, it can destroy our heart of compassion.  We begin to view life from the attitude of what is in it for me instead of from what would God want and what is best for others.  Verse eight says, Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.  Those things gained by oppression will ultimately be gone, and in the end, God's will wins out.  We are called on to be patient in spirit and not proud in spirit.  Those who are proud in spirit see what they have as coming from their own wisdom instead of those things being a blessing from God.  We, as His followers, are to humbly realize that no matter how little or how much we have that is all a gift from God.