1:7 All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.
1:8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it:
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
1:13 I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine
all that has been accomplished on earth.
I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task
that keeps them occupied.
2:17 So I loathed life because what
happens on earth seems awful to me;
for all the benefits of wisdom are futile – like chasing the wind.
2:23 For all day long his work produces pain and frustration,
and even at night his mind cannot relax!
This also is futile!
3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,
for these things are a gift from God.
6:7 All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach –
yet his appetite is never satisfied!
7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;
I said, “I am determined to comprehend this” – but it was beyond my grasp.
8:9 While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this:
Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.