Two axioms in one verse as we open up Chapter 7 of our Ecclesiastes

Ecc 7:1  A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born. 

A reputation defines our character, if you are someone that others can count on when times get tough, that is far more valuable than an expensive gift like perfume.

We cannot buy a good reputation, despite throwing money around, over time, your our character is established by how we have served others and the time we have given to assist other people.  

The second half of that verse “the day you die is better than the day you were born” could certainly be applied to Christians.  As humans we are born under the curse of Adam, no matter how hard we try throughout our lives, we will still have a sinful nature in this life.  But, for those who are in Christ, when we die, we are freed from our sinful bodies to have eternal fellowship with Him, the often quoted John 3:16 reminds us of this 

Joh 3:16  “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 

So as we compare and contrast the day we die to the day we were born, the day we die is actually just the death of this life, and the beginning of our eternal lives.