All is vanity, said the Preacher. All is futile, all for nothing. There is one fate for all people, just and unjust, poor and rich, slaves and free: death. The good will be lost. Efforts will fail. Dreams will prove to be chimeras. Yet worries will not cease.

"The Preacher" remains an enigma. While it is characterized as the darkest text in world literature, the Preacher is also described as a philosophical hymn to joy. Perhaps because it dared to plunge deeply into the darkness of futility to find one truly bright thing: the joy of labor. This is humanity's share, the only thing that is worthy in the measured days of life. Yet worries will not cease. Futile as well, a chase after the wind.

"The Preacher" was most likely written in the 3rd century BC. It is included in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.