4Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.H7725H7200H6217H6213H8121H1832H6231H5162H3027H6231H3581H51622So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.H7623H4191H3528H4191H2416H5728H24163But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.H2896H8147H5728H7200H7451H4639H6213H81214Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.H7200H5999H3788H4639H376H7068H7453H1892H7469H73075“Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”H3684H2263H3027H2263H398H13206And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”H2896H3709H5183H2651H4393H5999H7469H7307
The Advantages of Companionship
7I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun.H7725H7200H1892H81218This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, “Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?” It is all so meaningless and depressing.H3426H259H8145H1121H251H7093H5999H5869H7646H6239H6001H2637H5315H2896H1892H7451H60459Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.H8147H2896H259H3426H2896H7939H599910If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.H5307H259H6965H2270H337H259H5307H8145H696511Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?H1571H8147H7901H2552H259H317912A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.H259H8630H8147H5975H8027H2339H4120H5423
The Futility of Political Power
13It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.H2896H4542H2450H3206H2205H3684H4428H3045H209414Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison.H631H1004H3318H4427H3205H4438H732615But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.H7200H2416H1980H8121H8145H3206H597516Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.H7093H5971H6440H314H8055H1892H7475H7307
who replaces him.H7200
