Ecclesiastes 6:8 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

What hath the poor, &c.— What remaineth also to the very beggar, who knoweth how to walk before the living? The desire of the wise man who labours, is undoubtedly to make himself more comfortable than he could expect to be, by giving himself no manner of trouble: yet, when all is duly considered, it is plain, on the one hand, that the ultimate drift of all our occupations is, to be supplied with the necessaries of life; which is thus proverbially expressed, All the labour of man is for his mouth; and we find, on, the other hand, that all that the wisest man can consume, or really enjoy, is no more than generally falls to the lot of the most wretched among men; viz. those who are forced to beg their bread; provided they behave so as not to preclude themselves from the beneficence of other men. What remaineth to the wise more than to the ignorant? What, or that which remaineth also to the most miserable wretch, who knoweth how to walk before the living. Thus the wise really has an advantage over the ignorant or fool, who either does not get, or, after he has gotten, does not enjoy (Ecclesiastes 6:2.) the necessaries of life; but that advantage does not fill his soul, or satisfy his desires; as it does not raise him above the level of those who depend upon others for their subsistence, and who seldom fail of getting that by a proper demeanour, which the most industrious attains through his labour and application.