3 But better than bothis the one who has never been born,who has not seen the evilthat is done under the sun.
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5 Fools fold their handsand ruin themselves.
6 Better one handful with tranquillitythan two handfuls with toiland chasing after the wind.
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
8 there was a man all alone;he had neither son nor brother.There was no end to his toil,yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.‘For whom am I toiling,’ he asked,‘and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?’This too is meaningless –a miserable business!
9 Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their labour: