Quotes About Existence

Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.

What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?

So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Again, I saw futility under the sun.

There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

As a man came from his motherís womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:

A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,

even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?

What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.