1
For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, "Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end, and no one has been known to return from Hades.
2
For we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been, for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;
3
when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.
4
Our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our works; our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud, and be scattered like mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat.
5
For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and there is no return from our death, because it is sealed up and no one turns back.
6
"Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist, and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.