Quotes About Life

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the kingís successor do than what has already been accomplished?

The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.