Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I looked Here also, however, the result was as before. There came the afterthought which scrutinised the enjoyments and found them wanting. The pursuit of pleasure was as unsatisfying as the pursuit of knowledge. Like others who have trodden the same path, he had to confess that

"Medio de fonte leporum

Surgit amari aliquid."

"E'en from the centre of the fount of joys

There springs an element of bitterness."

Lucret., De Rer. Nat. iv. 1127.

All was vanity and feeding on the wind. There was no real "profit" (see note on chap. Ecclesiastes 1:3) that could take its place among his permanent possessions, no surplus to his credit on the balance-sheet of life. In the more solemn words of Matthew 16:26, "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" we have substantially the same teaching.