Solomon also tried hedonism. He approached this search with optimism that it would yield success, answers that were capable of providing meaning to life and the key to happiness, otherwise he would not have put such energy into his search and pursued it with such singlemindedness.
Nowhere will we find anything substantial in this world, for the pursuit of earthly wisdom is an attempt to lay hold of what cannot be grasped; it is all incapable of delivering happiness. This elusive goal does not lie in this direction, concluded Solomon, though it seems to hold such promise. It is a tremendous gain to have reached this conclusion, for the pursuit of wisdom seems like a path that goes on in front of us forever, disappearing over a horizon that urges us never to stop and ask where we are going. To the question, ‘Why have I not reach satisfaction yet?’, always the same answer is given: ‘You have not yet gone far enough.’ This is a trap that ensnares many and in kindness Solomon wishes deliver us from it. Happiness does not lie in this endless pursuit but in God who gives spiritual wisdom both to the wise and the simple.