<p class="poetry">The Teacher says:p> <p class="poetry">I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.p>

<p class="poetry">For if they fall, one will help his companion up,p> <p class="poetry">but pity<n id="1" /> the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Two people are better than one,p> <p class="poetry">because they can reap<n id="1" /> more benefit<n id="2" /> from their labor.p>

<p class="poetry">Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm,p> <p class="poetry">but how can one person keep warm by himself?p>

<p class="poetry">Although an assailant may overpower<n id="1" /> one person,p> <p class="poetry">two can withstand him.p> <p class="poetry">Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.p>

<p class="poetry">Wisdom is better than weapons of war,p> <p class="poetry">but one sinner can destroy much that is good.p>

<p class="poetry">The words of the sages are like prods,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and the collected sayings are like firmly fixed nails;p> <p class="poetry">they are given by one shepherd.p>

<p class="poetry">For the fate of humans<n id="1" /> and the fate of animals are the same:p> <p class="poetry">As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.p> <p class="poetry">There is no advantage for humans over animals,p> <p class="poetry">for both are fleeting.p>

<p class="poetry">The wise man can see where he is going,<n id="1" /> but the fool walks in darkness.p> <p class="poetry">Yet I also realized that the same fate<n id="2" /> happens to them both.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Both go to the same place,p> <p class="poetry">both come from the dust,p> <p class="poetry">and to dust both return.p>

<p class="poetry">if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity.p> <p class="poetry">For both of them die!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">What I have continually sought, I have not found;p> <p class="poetry">I have found only<n id="1" /> one upright<n id="2" /> man among a thousand,p> <p class="poetry">but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone shares the same fate<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the righteous and the wicked,p> <p class="poetry">the good and the bad,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the ceremonially clean and unclean,p> <p class="poetry">those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.p> <p class="poetry">What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.p>

<p class="poetry">This is the unfortunate fact<n id="1" /> about everything that happens on earth:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the same fate awaits<n id="3" /> everyone.p> <p class="poetry">In addition to this, the hearts of all people<n id="4" /> are full of evil,p> <p class="poetry">and there is folly in their hearts during their lives &#8211; then they die.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sow your seed in the morning,p> <p class="poetry">and do not stop working<n id="1" /> until the evening;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for you do not know which activity<n id="3" /> will succeed<n id="4" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">A man who is all alone with no companion,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he has no children nor siblings;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">yet there is no end to all his toil,p> <p class="poetry">and he<n id="3" /> is never satisfied with riches.p> <p class="poetry">He laments,<n id="4" /> &#8220;For whom am I toiling and depriving myself<n id="5" /> of pleasure?&#8221;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">This also is futile and a burdensome task!<n id="7" />p>