2 So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.
3 But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
5 “Fools fold their idle hands,leading them to ruin.”
6 And yet,“Better to have one handful with quietnessthan two handfuls with hard workand chasing the wind.”
7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.
8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.