Quotes About Existence

Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He gave the command and they were created.

When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water.

Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth,

before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth.

These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:

“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?

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

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

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.

Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

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.

I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”

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.

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.

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.

So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?