Ecclesiastes 2:15
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
The verse stands within Solomon's record of seeking satisfaction in possessions, pleasures, and achievements. In it he admits to himself that what happens to the fool happens even to him, and asks what good it then did him to be more wise, since his greater wisdom did not spare him that common fate. What he discovered in all those pursuits was no lasting profit, proving that earthly success cannot make life worthwhile. The outcome of that discovery was hatred toward both life itself and his own labor. Because his pursuit of pleasure and worldly achievements ended this way, he judged life and labor under the sun to be vanity and a source of grief.