Wisdom 5:11

11 That's all disappeared in the way a bird flies through the air and leaves no hint of its path: it beats its wings against the thin air, dives with a rush, uses its wings to circle round—yet afterward there's no sign in the air that the bird was ever there.

Wisdom 5:11 In-Context

9 These things have all passed away like a shadow. They're gone like old news.

10 They're gone like a ship passing through a storm-tossed sea: once it has passed, it leaves no trace of its passing; its keel leaves no lasting mark on the waves.

11 That's all disappeared in the way a bird flies through the air and leaves no hint of its path: it beats its wings against the thin air, dives with a rush, uses its wings to circle round—yet afterward there's no sign in the air that the bird was ever there.

12 It's all vanished like an arrow that's shot at its target: the air opens up as the arrow flies through it but immediately closes up behind the arrow, and no one can detect any trace of the arrow's path.

13 That's us! We came into being, and almost immediately afterward, we died. We leave behind no evidence of virtue. We squandered what we had in bad living.