There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies
heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and
honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God
does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.
This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred
children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are
many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he
also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than
he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness
its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known
anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should
live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go
to the one place?
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not
satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And
what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before
the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of
the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known
what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger
than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage
to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few
days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can
tell man what will be after him under the sun?
