Utter futility

A poem from Ecclesiastes, the bible's "atheistic" book:

"The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem. [Although "Koheleth" is presented as Solomon, that is probably not the case. The word means "to assemble," and thus the Greek translation, Ecclesiastes - the biblical book from which this is taken. No one knows for sure to what or whom Koheleth refers.]

'Utter futility! -- said Koheleth --
Utter futility! All is futile!
What real value is there for a man
In all the gains he makes beneath the sun?

One generation goes, another comes,
But the earth remains the same forever.
The sun rises, and the sun sets--
And glides back to where it rises.
Southward blowing,
Turning northward,
Ever turning blows the wind;
On its rounds the wind returns.
All streams flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is never full;
To the place [from] which they flow
The streams flow back again.

All such things are wearisome;
No man can ever state them'
The eye never has enough of seeing,
Nor the ear enough of hearing.
Only that shall happen
Which has happened,
Only that occur
Which has occurred;
There is nothing new
Beneath the sun!'"


In other words, we've always had assholes like Beck, Coulter, Rushbaugh, Cantor, DeMint, Bourn, Steele, Palin, etc., etc., and we're just going to have to live with the fact that there's nothing much we can do about it. There is nothing new under the sun."

Quotation from the Jewish Study Bible.