Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

Ecclesiastes 4:4-6

[4] Again, I considered  all travail,  and every right  work,  that for this a man  is envied  of his neighbour.  This is also vanity  and vexation  of spirit.  [5] The fool  his hands  together,  and eateth  his own flesh.  [6] Better  is an handful  with quietness,  than both the hands  full  with travail  and vexation  of spirit. 

What does Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

"Every labor and every skill" ( Ecclesiastes 4:4) undoubtedly means every type of labor and skill, rather than every individual instance of these things. Solomon used hyperbole. Much achievement is the result of a desire to be superior. Ecclesiastes 4:5 seems to be the opposite of Ecclesiastes 4:4.
"We pass from the rat-race with its hectic scramble for status symbols to the drop-out with his total indifference." [1]
"He [2] is the picture of complacency and unwitting self-destruction, for this comment on him points out a deeper damage than the wasting of his capital. His idleness eats away not only what he has but what he is: eroding his self-control, his grasp of reality, his capacity for care and, in the end, his self-respect." [1]
Ecclesiastes 4:6 is the middle road between the two preceding extremes.