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Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.
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And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
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I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
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It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
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a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil.
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Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.
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It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
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It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.
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Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
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It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
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Death Comes to All
But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.
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It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.
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If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer.
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Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.