I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun. - An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be concerned with! I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuit of wind: 

     A twisted thing that cannot be made straight,

     A lack that cannot be made good.

I said to myself: "Here I have grown richer and wiser than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning. And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned - that this too was pursuit of wind:

     For as wisdom grows, vexation grows;

     To increase learning is to increase heartache.

Ecclesiastes 1, 12-18

JPS