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4 Once more, I considered all the oppression that goes on under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, who have no one to comfort them– power brutally wielded by the oppressors, and not 2 a soul to comfort them. Happy, thought I, were the dead who are already dead rather than the 3 living who are still alive; but happier than either the creature that has never been born, to look upon the evil work that goes on under the sun.
The Taint of Jealousy
4 Then I observed that all the laborious and skilful work of men has its origin and issue in their jealousy of one another. Here is another illusion and a chasing of the wind.
The Wisdom of Unambitious Quiet
5 The fool foldeth his hands,
And his own flesh he devoureth.
6 Better a single handful of quiet,
And a chasing of the wind.
The Futility and Misery of Loneliness
7 Here is another of the illusions that I have 8 observed under the sun. Take, for example, a lonely man, with no one by his side – he has neither son nor brother: yet he toils on endlessly; his eye can never see money enough. "And yet, whom am I toiling for, and beggaring myself to happi- ness? "Here is another illusion, a sorry business indeed.
9 Two are better than one, for their toil is happily 10 rewarded. If, for example, one should fall, his comrade helps him to his feet: but woe betide the 11 man who falls, with nobody to help him up. Again, if two lie together, they get warm: but how can a man 12 get warm by himself? Again, while a solitary man may be overpowered, two can stand up to an assailant; while a cord that has three strands is not lightly snapped.
The Futility of Wisdom – An illustration
13 A Young man that is poor but wise is better than a foolish old king who can no longer take a warning. 14 There was one such who passed from prison to the throne, though in the (old king’s) reign he had been 15 born poor; and I obseved that every man alive that walketh under the sun supported his youthful 16 successor. Endless were the people who looked up to him as leader; and yet in later years their enthusiasm for him had vanished. Here is another illusion and a chasing of the wind.
Warnings against Insincerity and Rashness in the Discharge of Religious Duties