It is a serious mistake to read Ecclesiastes as if it is just an exposition of practical wisdom. Efforts to get moral instruction out of the book torture it.
So does a little folly, says the Preacher. We tell people about ourselves – how good we are. ‘I do this; I do that’, but we do not take count of the little fly that has fallen in. Here is someone with a good reputation who outwardly lives an acceptable life. He has honour and accomplishments, and then something happens. Maybe he gets drunk and makes a fool of himself at the office party and has to leave the company; or maybe he gets into an argument and everyone hears his foolish reasoning but he will not back down; or a moment of uncleanness, unfaithfulness. As a result he loses credibility; they have seen another side of him. Human beings see themselves as righteous, but they can’t see the real person within them. They stop seeing their need of the forgiveness of God. They overlook the pride, selfishness, bad temper within them. Shows us weakness of the human heart. I have a good intention, yes, but look again – buried inside is some selfish desire. This does not mean that person can be charming and have one fault and it makes him stink. It is more that you would never have known from the outside. It is about the contrast between what we are on the outside, and what we are within – the real person which God sees.