The Futility of Self-Indulgence

2 I said to myself, “Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But again, this also was vanity.^{(A) 2} I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”^{(B) 3} I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was good for mortals to do under heaven during the few days of their life.