Summary
The Teacher confronts one of life's cruelest ironies: people who have everything they thought they wanted but can't enjoy any of it. He describes someone blessed with wealth, status, and honor—everything our culture tells us leads to happiness—yet unable to experience satisfaction from their success. Instead, others benefit from their hard work while they remain empty inside. This isn't just about money. It's about the gap between getting what we think we want and actually feeling fulfilled. The Teacher pushes further, arguing that someone who lives a thousand years but never experiences genuine satisfaction is worse off than someone who dies young. The real tragedy isn't poverty or early death—it's a life spent accumulating without ever truly living. He observes that all human effort seems aimed at filling an appetite that can never be satisfied, whether you're wise or foolish, rich or poor. The chapter's central insight cuts deep: wanting what you can see right in front of you is better than constantly chasing after what you don't have. This speaks directly to our social media age, where we're constantly exposed to others' highlight reels, always reaching for the next thing that will finally make us happy. The Teacher isn't promoting laziness or lack of ambition. He's pointing out that contentment comes from appreciating what's actually in your life rather than endlessly pursuing what might be. The chapter ends with a sobering reminder about human limitations—we can't control the future or even fully understand what's truly good for us in this brief life.
Coming Up in Chapter 7
After exploring the emptiness of endless striving, the Teacher shifts to practical wisdom about reputation, timing, and how to navigate life's inevitable sorrows. He's about to offer some of his most memorable insights about what actually matters when everything else falls away.
Share it with friends
An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 313 words)
T21:006:001 here is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 21:006:002 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 21:006:003 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. 21:006:004 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 21:006:005 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 21:006:006 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? 21:006:007 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 21:006:008 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 21:006:009 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 21:006:010 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. 21:006:011 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? 21:006:012 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Master this chapter. Complete your experience
Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature
As an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Empty Achievement - When Success Becomes a Prison
The devastating disconnect between achieving external markers of success and experiencing genuine fulfillment from them.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when achievements that look good on paper leave you feeling hollow inside.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you feel empty after getting something you wanted—that's the satisfaction gap revealing itself in real time.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Vanity
In Ecclesiastes, this doesn't mean being conceited about your looks. It means emptiness, futility, or meaninglessness - like chasing after wind. The Hebrew word 'hevel' suggests something that looks substantial but dissolves when you try to grasp it.
Modern Usage:
We see this when people achieve their dream job or buy their dream house but still feel empty inside.
Evil disease
The Teacher's term for a spiritual sickness that affects people who have material success but can't enjoy it. It's not a physical illness but a condition where your blessings become meaningless to you.
Modern Usage:
This shows up as depression among successful people, or when winning the lottery doesn't bring the happiness people expected.
Untimely birth
A miscarriage or stillborn child. The Teacher shockingly suggests this might be better than a long life without satisfaction, because at least the unborn child doesn't experience the pain of unfulfilled desires.
Modern Usage:
We use similar logic when we say someone is 'better off' not knowing about betrayal or disappointment.
Appetite
More than just hunger for food - this represents all human desires and cravings that can never be permanently satisfied. The Teacher observes that no matter how much we get, we always want more.
Modern Usage:
This is the psychology behind consumer culture and social media addiction - always needing the next purchase or like to feel satisfied.
Wandering of desire
Constantly looking elsewhere for satisfaction instead of appreciating what's right in front of you. The restless pursuit of something better, newer, or different.
Modern Usage:
This is FOMO (fear of missing out) and constantly comparing your life to others on social media.
Vexation of spirit
Deep frustration or agitation of the soul. Not just annoyance, but a profound disturbance that comes from pursuing things that ultimately don't satisfy.
Modern Usage:
This is the anxiety and restlessness people feel when they're successful on paper but miserable inside.
Characters in This Chapter
The Teacher
Philosophical observer
He's witnessing and analyzing the cruel irony of people who have everything but enjoy nothing. His observations cut through cultural assumptions about success and happiness.
Modern Equivalent:
The therapist who sees successful clients struggling with emptiness
The rich man
Tragic figure
Someone blessed with wealth, honor, and status but unable to enjoy any of it. He represents the failure of material success to guarantee satisfaction.
Modern Equivalent:
The CEO who has everything but works 80-hour weeks and never sees his family
The stranger
Beneficiary
This person enjoys the fruits of the rich man's labor while the rich man himself remains unsatisfied. Shows how success can benefit everyone except the person who achieved it.
Modern Equivalent:
The heir who inherits wealth they didn't work for
The man with many children
Example of emptiness
Even with a large family and long life - traditional markers of blessing - if he's not satisfied, the Teacher says he's worse off than a miscarried child.
Modern Equivalent:
The family man who provides everything but feels disconnected and unfulfilled
Key Quotes & Analysis
"A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it"
Context: Describing the cruel irony of having everything but enjoying nothing
This captures one of life's most bitter experiences - achieving your goals but finding them hollow. The 'power to eat thereof' means the ability to actually enjoy and benefit from your success.
In Today's Words:
Some people get everything they thought they wanted but can't enjoy any of it, while others benefit from their hard work.
"Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire"
Context: Comparing contentment with what you have versus constantly wanting more
This is a profound statement about contentment. Appreciating what's actually in front of you brings more satisfaction than endlessly chasing what you don't have.
In Today's Words:
It's better to appreciate what you can see right now than to always be wanting something else.
"All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled"
Context: Observing that human work aims to satisfy desires that can never be permanently satisfied
This reveals the futility of thinking that more stuff or achievements will finally make us happy. The appetite - for food, status, love, meaning - always returns.
In Today's Words:
Everything we work for is supposed to satisfy us, but we're never really satisfied.
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
The Teacher shows how wealth and status can become prisons when they don't align with genuine satisfaction
Development
Building on earlier themes about work's limitations, now exploring how even successful accumulation fails
In Your Life:
You might chase job titles or possessions that look impressive but leave you feeling empty inside
Identity
In This Chapter
The gap between who you appear to be (successful) and who you actually feel like (unsatisfied)
Development
Deepening the exploration of authentic self versus social performance
In Your Life:
You might find yourself living someone else's definition of a good life rather than your own
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
The pressure to accumulate wealth, honor, and possessions as proof of a life well-lived
Development
Continuing the critique of societal definitions of success and meaning
In Your Life:
You might feel compelled to achieve certain milestones because that's what people expect, not what you want
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Learning to distinguish between what you think you want and what actually brings satisfaction
Development
Introduced here as a new dimension of wisdom
In Your Life:
You might need to regularly check whether your goals are truly yours or borrowed from others
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
The Teacher describes someone who has wealth, possessions, and honor but can't enjoy any of it. What's the difference between having something and being able to enjoy it?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does the Teacher say it's better to want what you can see than to chase after what you don't have? What's the psychological trap he's identifying?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see this 'satisfaction gap' in modern life - people getting what they thought they wanted but feeling empty? Think about social media, career success, or consumer culture.
application • medium - 4
The chapter suggests that constantly chasing the next thing prevents us from enjoying what we have. How would you break this cycle in your own life?
application • deep - 5
The Teacher argues that all human effort seems aimed at satisfying an appetite that can never be filled. What does this reveal about how we should approach goals and ambitions?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Audit Your Want List
Make two columns on paper. In the left column, list 5-7 things you currently want or are working toward. In the right column, honestly write whether each want comes from your genuine desires or from what others expect you to want. Then circle the items that are truly yours.
Consider:
- •Notice how many of your wants might actually belong to other people's expectations
- •Pay attention to which desires feel energizing versus draining when you think about them
- •Consider whether you're chasing the thing itself or the feeling you think it will give you
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you got something you thought you wanted but it didn't satisfy you the way you expected. What was the gap between expectation and reality? What would you do differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 7: The Wisdom of Difficult Truths
The coming pages reveal facing hard realities builds stronger character than avoiding them, and teach us to balance righteousness with practical wisdom in daily life. These discoveries help us navigate similar situations in our own lives.