For what advantage does the wise have over the stupid one? What does the afflicted one have in knowing how to walk in front of the living ones?

The wise but discontented man may try to suppress troublesome desires, whereas the fool gives in to them, exercising no restraint. This was apparently the basis for Solomon’s questions: “For what advantage does the wise have over the stupid one? What does the afflicted one have in knowing how to walk in front of the living ones?” In the sense that both the wise and the stupid one have nagging desires, the wise person has no advantage. Similarly, the afflicted one may know how to conceal his disturbing desires before others, but this still does not remove them. Unfulfilled, they continue to trouble him. He, too, is no better off than the fool.