Ecclesiastes - All is Vanity

[Quid est Veritas?]

All is vanity.

Or the more direct translation - everything is chasing wind.

You will one day die and everything you did will be quickly forgotten. The greatest men become mere ciphers and then nothing.

All your dreams and ambitions and achievements are in the end a futile endeavour. The world turns and we meant precious little.

Here I see the truth that we must take pleasure in the little joys of daily life, for to forsake them for other goals would be strange as all equally end in vain.

The Koholeth or Preacher speaks great truths which I can see echoed in Hellenistic thought amongst the Epicurians and Stoics, within the Taoist sage and at home in Eastern thought in general.

We are foolish creatures with petty ambitions who miss life itself because we perpetually seek it.

We seek God, for nothing else ultimately matters. Both the wise man and the fool's lives have no real meaning.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Reccesional - by Rudyard Kipling

God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word-
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Ozymandias - by Percy Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away

 

[gord44]

All is vanity.

Or the more direct translation - everything is chasing wind.

You will one day die and everything you did will be quickly forgotten. The greatest men become mere ciphers and then nothing.

All your dreams and ambitions and achievements are in the end a futile endeavour. The world turns and we meant precious little.

Here I see the truth that we must take pleasure in the little joys of daily life, for to forsake them for other goals would be strange as all equally end in vain.

The Koholeth or Preacher speaks great truths which I can see echoed in Hellenistic thought amongst the Epicurians and Stoics, within the Taoist sage and at home in Eastern thought in general.

We are foolish creatures with petty ambitions who miss life itself because we perpetually seek it.

We seek God, for nothing else ultimately matters. Both the wise man and the fool's lives have no real meaning.

good post!

 

[Robban]

All is vanity.

Or the more direct translation - everything is chasing wind.

You will one day die and everything you did will be quickly forgotten. The greatest men become mere ciphers and then nothing.

All your dreams and ambitions and achievements are in the end a futile endeavour. The world turns and we meant precious little.

Here I see the truth that we must take pleasure in the little joys of daily life, for to forsake them for other goals would be strange as all equally end in vain.

The Koholeth or Preacher speaks great truths which I can see echoed in Hellenistic thought amongst the Epicurians and Stoics, within the Taoist sage and at home in Eastern thought in general.

We are foolish creatures with petty ambitions who miss life itself because we perpetually seek it.

We seek God, for nothing else ultimately matters. Both the wise man and the fool's lives have no real meaning.

Similar to Psalms 90:10,

As they say, when all else fails, follow the instructions------Psalms 90:12,

"Teach us then to reckon our days,
that we may acquire a wise heart."

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Personally, I'm more of a "realizing eternity in a melting snowflake/falling flower petal"-type.

Meaning cannot be extraneous to ourselves, at least not if it's supposed to be meaningful *to us*.

 

[MehGuy]

All is vanity.

Or the more direct translation - everything is chasing wind.

You will one day die and everything you did will be quickly forgotten. The greatest men become mere ciphers and then nothing.

All your dreams and ambitions and achievements are in the end a futile endeavour. The world turns and we meant precious little.

Here I see the truth that we must take pleasure in the little joys of daily life, for to forsake them for other goals would be strange as all equally end in vain.

The Koholeth or Preacher speaks great truths which I can see echoed in Hellenistic thought amongst the Epicurians and Stoics, within the Taoist sage and at home in Eastern thought in general.

We are foolish creatures with petty ambitions who miss life itself because we perpetually seek it.

We seek God, for nothing else ultimately matters. Both the wise man and the fool's lives have no real meaning.

Yeah, evolutionary imperatives rob many of us from properly enjoying life.

Can't say I have been doing a good job fighting them. Sometimes I wonder if we embrace the evolutionary imperatives and look at them with a kind light that we can have a good life while simultaneously feeding the nagging side of our brain.

Then again, I'm not known for my happiness and stability, lol.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Yeah, evolutionary imperatives rob many of us from properly enjoying life.

Can't say I have been doing a good job fighting them. Sometimes I wonder if we embrace the evolutionary imperatives and look at them with a kind light that we can have a good life while simultaneously feeding the nagging side of our brain.

Then again, I'm not known for my happiness and stability, lol.

What do you mean with Evolutionary Imperatives? I would think the only imperative is to live long enough to make babies who could make more babies.

Children though, are one of the great joys of life in my opinion. It may just be my biology telling me to love my son, but his smallest act means the world to me.
As his father, I think I can completely objectively say he is the greatest and best child in existence and no mere facts could ever change this, I would think.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Personally, I'm more of a "realizing eternity in a melting snowflake/falling flower petal"-type.

Meaning cannot be extraneous to ourselves, at least not if it's supposed to be meaningful *to us*.

I see no reason why the two views need be mutually exclusive. I think the view of meaning in the transience of existence is usually part and parcell of most so called extraneous views.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Auguries of Innocence - William Blake

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage
A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons
Shudders Hell thr' all its regions
A dog starvd at his Masters Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State
A Horse misusd upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear
A Skylark wounded in the wing
A Cherubim does cease to sing
The Game [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] clipd & armd for fight
Does the Rising Sun affright
Every Wolfs & Lions howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul
The wild deer, wandring here & there
Keeps the Human Soul from Care
The Lamb misusd breeds Public Strife
And yet forgives the Butchers knife
The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that wont Believe
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbelievers fright
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belovd by Men
He who the Ox to wrath has movd
Shall never be by Woman lovd
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spiders enmity
He who torments the Chafers Sprite
Weaves a Bower in endless Night
The Catterpiller on the Leaf
Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief
Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly
For the Last Judgment draweth nigh
He who shall train the Horse to War
Shall never pass the Polar Bar
The Beggars Dog & Widows Cat
Feed them & thou wilt grow fat
The Gnat that sings his Summers Song
Poison gets from Slanders tongue
The poison of the Snake & Newt
Is the sweat of Envys Foot
The poison of the Honey Bee
Is the Artists Jealousy
The Princes Robes & Beggars Rags
Are Toadstools on the Misers Bags
A Truth thats told with bad intent
Beats all the Lies you can invent
It is right it should be so
Man was made for Joy & Woe
And when this we rightly know
Thro the World we safely go
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A Clothing for the soul divine
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
The Babe is more than swadling Bands
Throughout all these Human Lands
Tools were made & Born were hands
Every Farmer Understands
Every Tear from Every Eye
Becomes a Babe in Eternity
This is caught by Females bright
And returnd to its own delight
The Bleat the Bark Bellow & Roar
Are Waves that Beat on Heavens Shore
The Babe that weeps the Rod beneath
Writes Revenge in realms of Death
The Beggars Rags fluttering in Air
Does to Rags the Heavens tear
The Soldier armd with Sword & Gun
Palsied strikes the Summers Sun
The poor Mans Farthing is worth more
Than all the Gold on Africs Shore
One Mite wrung from the Labrers hands
Shall buy & sell the Misers Lands
Or if protected from on high
Does that whole Nation sell & buy
He who mocks the Infants Faith
Shall be mockd in Age & Death
He who shall teach the Child to Doubt
The rotting Grave shall neer get out
He who respects the Infants faith
Triumphs over Hell & Death
The Childs Toys & the Old Mans Reasons
Are the Fruits of the Two seasons
The Questioner who sits so sly
Shall never know how to Reply
He who replies to words of Doubt
Doth put the Light of Knowledge out
The Strongest Poison ever known
Came from Caesars Laurel Crown
Nought can Deform the Human Race
Like to the Armours iron brace
When Gold & Gems adorn the Plow
To peaceful Arts shall Envy Bow
A Riddle or the Crickets Cry
Is to Doubt a fit Reply
The Emmets Inch & Eagles Mile
Make Lame Philosophy to smile
He who Doubts from what he sees
Will neer Believe do what you Please
If the Sun & Moon should Doubt
Theyd immediately Go out
To be in a Passion you Good may Do
But no Good if a Passion is in you
The harlot & Gambler by the State
Licencd build that Nations Fate
The Harlots cry from Street to Street
Shall weave Old Englands winding Sheet
The Winners Shout the Losers Curse
Dance before dead Englands Hearse
Every Night & every Morn
Some to Misery are Born
Every Morn and every Night
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night
We are led to Believe a Lie
When we see not Thro the Eye
Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night
When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light
God Appears & God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in Night
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day

 

[MehGuy]

What do you mean with Evolutionary Imperatives? I would think the only imperative is to live long enough to make babies who could make more babies.

Second imperative would be finding the best possible mate, then you could get into group imperatives and other imperatives we have so far not fully grasped.

Children though, are one of the great joys of life in my opinion. It may just be my biology telling me to love my son, but his smallest act means the world to me.
As his father, I think I can completely objectively say he is the greatest and best child in existence and no mere facts could ever change this, I would think.

Yeah, it doesn't matter where it comes from in my opinion. I'm just saying evolutionary urges are not designed to make us the most happy. Even unpleasant things like depression most likely exist as a survival mechanism. As to why, well that is a very speculative field, lol.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

I was at the seaside today with my son, so that he could splash around in tidal pools and poke and prod various seaweeds and flotsam.

All I saw were people with cellphones and selfie-sticks. Inured to constant cellphone use, they were tapping away while around them the surf roared over rocks sending rivulets draining back into sea. Others were attempting to immortalise the transient moments in hundreds of ephemeral selfies, thus missing the enjoyment of the very thing they were using as a backdrop. They were missing out on the Sea and their attempts to immortalise the moment, diminished it.

For tomorrow their selfie or posts will be forgotten, as mine now will be, but that moment has been lost for something which I doubt would ever have had the same value as basic enjoyment of the scenery would have. That simple moment has now eternally been lost.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Dover Beach - by Matthew Arnold.

The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

 

[W2L]

All is vanity.

Or the more direct translation - everything is chasing wind.

You will one day die and everything you did will be quickly forgotten. The greatest men become mere ciphers and then nothing.

All your dreams and ambitions and achievements are in the end a futile endeavour. The world turns and we meant precious little.

Here I see the truth that we must take pleasure in the little joys of daily life, for to forsake them for other goals would be strange as all equally end in vain.

The Koholeth or Preacher speaks great truths which I can see echoed in Hellenistic thought amongst the Epicurians and Stoics, within the Taoist sage and at home in Eastern thought in general.

We are foolish creatures with petty ambitions who miss life itself because we perpetually seek it.

We seek God, for nothing else ultimately matters. Both the wise man and the fool's lives have no real meaning.

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

I love the paradox of these verses, of the Greeks seeking wisdom and the Jews a sign, yet both miss it in what they think does not fulfill it. Of the weak confounding the mighty, of the foolish the wise.

I sincerely thank you for reminding me of this piece of scripture, you made my day.

 

[W2L]

I love the paradox of these verses, of the Greeks seeking wisdom and the Jews a sign, yet both miss it in what they think does not fulfill it. Of the weak confounding the mighty, of the foolish the wise.

I sincerely thank you for reminding me of this piece of scripture, you made my day.

You're welcome. It came to mind as I read your poem

 

[danny ski]

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

Of course that's just one man's opinion.

 

[W2L]

Of course that's just one man's opinion.

James says that mans life is just a vapor.

 

[danny ski]

James says that mans life is just a vapor.

Compared to what? Psalm 144 says exactly the same thing, but again, so what? Life has value and purpose either way.

 

[W2L]

Compared to what? Psalm 144 says exactly the same thing, but again, so what? Life has value and purpose either way.

I never implied otherwise