15Then said I in my heart, The same that befalleth the fool will also befall even me: and why have I then been wiser? Then spoke I in my heart, that this is also vanity.
16For there is no recollection of the wise any more than of the fool for ever: seeing that which hath long ago been will, in the days that are coming, all be forgotten. And how doth the wise die equally with the fool!
17Therefore I hated life; because I felt displeased with the work that is wrought under the sun; for all is vanity and a torture of the spirit.
18Yea, I hated also all my toil with which I had toiled under the sun; because I should have to leave it unto the man that will be after me.
19And who knoweth, whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have full sway over all my toil wherein I have toiled, and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. Also this is vanity.
20Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to give up thinking of all the toil wherewith I had toiled under the sun.
21For there is many a man whose toil is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and with energy; yet to a man that hath not toiled therefore must he give it as his portion. Also this is vanity and a great evil.
22For what doth a man obtain of all his toil, and of the torture of his heart, wherewith he toileth under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 2
Ecclesiastes 2:15-22