Ecclesiastes 1:14-17

New International Version

¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.^(A)

¹⁶ I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me;^(C) I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” ¹⁷ Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,^(D) and also of madness and folly,^(E) but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.