All the streams flow to the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
The streams are flowing to the place,
and they flow there again.

There is no remembrance of those who came before;
and of those who will come after
there will also be no remembrance
by those who follow them.

The wise man has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool?

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

The fool folds his arms
and consumes his own flesh.

I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

For dreams result from much work and a fool’s voice from many words.

What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.

Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe destroys the mind.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

A wise man’s heart goes to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.

Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense,
and he shows everyone he is a fool.

The fool is appointed to great heights,
but the rich remain in lowly positions.

The one who digs a pit may fall into it,
and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

The words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious,
but the lips of a fool consume him.

Yet the fool multiplies words.
No one knows what will happen,
and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth;
whether a tree falls to the south or the north,
the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.