¹⁸ “As for human beings,” I told myself, “God puts them to the test, that they might see themselves as mere animals.” ¹⁹ For what happens to people also happens to animals—a single event happens to them: just as someone dies, so does the other. In fact, they all breathe the same way, so that a human being has no superiority over an animal. All of this is pointless. ²⁰ All of them go to one place: all of them originate from dust, and all of them return to dust.

²¹ Who knows whether^[a] the spirit of human beings ascends, and whether^[b] the spirit of animals descends to the earth? ²² I concluded that it is worthwhile for people to find joy in their accomplishments, because that is their inheritance, since who can see what will exist after them?