“Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink” (10:1a, GNB).

And his point?

“…a little stupidity can cancel out even the greatest wisdom” (10:1b).

There is also practical wisdom.  Here is a verse to which I subscribed as a student.

“There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out” (12:12).  And as a septuagenarian I find what he has to say about the senior years of interest.

He depicts them as one long, gray, cloudy day with the constant threat of rain (12:2), and a downhill slide to our final resting place (12:3-7).

After reiterating his thesis that, “All is meaningless…utterly meaningless” (12:8), the fatalistically doleful old sage concludes that in the final analysis what we are to do is “Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all man was created for” (12:13).

And if we are inclined to think otherwise, we need to keep this in mind. “God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret” (12:14).

By this time you may be scratching your head and asking “What is a book like this doing in the Bible?”

The best answer I can give is this one from the introduction to Ecclesiastes in the Good News Bible.

Many of the Philosopher’s thoughts appear negative and even depressing.

But the fact that this book is in the Bible shows that biblical faith is broad enough to take in pessimism and doubt.

Many have taken comfort in seeing themselves in the mirror of Ecclesiastes, and have discovered that the same Bible which reflects these thoughts also offers the hope in God that gives life its greater meaning.