I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Behold, all is vanity - After all these discussions and experiments, when even the results have been the most successful, I have found only rational satisfaction; but not that supreme good by which alone the soul can be made happy.
O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!
"How anxious are our cares, and yet how vain
The bent of our desires!"
Pers. Sat. i., 5: 1.