Ecclesiastes
The biblical wisdom book that supplied English with an unusual density of stock phrases.
Ecclesiastes (Hebrew Qoheleth, 'the assembler' or 'preacher') is a wisdom book of the Hebrew Bible, meditating on the futility of human effort under the sun. Its argument is unusually sceptical for scripture, and its style is aphoristic throughout.
Through the King James Version of 1611 it contributed an extraordinary number of set phrases to English: 'vanity of vanities', 'nothing new under the sun', 'a time to be born, and a time to die', 'eat, drink, and be merry', 'cast thy bread upon the waters'.
Its influence on secular quotation is equally large. Orwell used chapter 9 verse 11 as his example of concrete English in 'Politics and the English Language', and Hemingway took The Sun Also Rises from chapter 1.
Common mistake: quoting 'to every thing there is a season' as a general reassurance. In context the passage sits inside an argument about the limits of human control, and the surrounding verses qualify the comfort readers usually take from it.
“"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."”
Keep reading the glossary
The Hebrew Bible's anthology of wisdom sayings and a foundational model for the proverb collection.
Locating a quotation by fixed internal divisions rather than by page number.
A short, sharp statement that compresses a truth or observation into a single line.
A short quotation set at the beginning of a book, chapter, or essay to suggest its theme.