The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

There is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither has he power in the day of death: and there is no release from that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices, and to him that sacrifices not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that swears, as he that fears an oath.

There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

For God gives to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping up, only that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping of the wind.

That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been; and God requires that which is past.

I said in my heart concerning the condition of the sons of men, that God might reveal them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his lot: for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

If a man begets a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also that he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn birth is better than he.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.