Quotes About Futility

Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,

How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!

You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.

Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.

Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with oneís right hand.

for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.

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

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

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

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.

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

And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

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.

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

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.

I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?