Ecclesiastes 2:12-17

Eccl. 2:12 ¶ So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done? 

Eccl. 2:13 And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. 

Eccl. 2:14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. 

Eccl. 2:15 Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” 

Eccl. 2:16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! 

Eccl. 2:17 So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. 

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Solomon tried both wisdom and foolishness.  He discovered that both end up in the same place, in a hole in the ground.  However, he found that wisdom was better than foolishness.  The fool creates his own mess that he has to deal with, he makes his own life a wreck.  A wise man avoids pitfalls the fool rushes into and he sets his life in better order so that he is more prepared when the day of disaster comes.  He also helps other, he keeps others from harm.  The fool walks in darkness and stumbles and trips and is afraid.  The wise man walks in the light, he can see his path, keep from stumbling, and walks in the safety of the light.

Yet there is nothing we do that lasts.  Other people and nature will lay claim to all we have done when we leave this planet.  It is only the treasures we store up in Heaven that will last.