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So I considered the dead,
    who are already dead,
more fortunate than the living,
    who are still alive.
Yet better than both
    is one who has not yet been,
who has never seen the evil work
    that is done under the sun.

Then I saw that all toil and all skill that is done come from man’s envy of his neighbor; this too is fleeting and striving after the wind.

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And I declared that the dead,(A)
    who had already died,
are happier than the living,
    who are still alive.(B)
But better than both
    is the one who has never been born,(C)
who has not seen the evil
    that is done under the sun.(D)

And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(E)

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