The Pursuit of Happiness

"I said to myself, 'Come now, I will mix [wine] with joy and experience pleasure'; and behold, this too was vanity. Of laughter, I said, '[It is] mingled'; and concerning joy, 'What does this accomplish?'"
Kohelet is discussing the idea of a Neheneh - a partier. He says that happiness never lasts, so what's the point of pursuing it?

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness:
"It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"

There are so many songs playing on the radio these days that preach the idea of partying the night away, searching for some kind of excitement, not worrying about tomorrow. Children, teenagers, and adults alike turn up the radio and sing along, not even thinking about what these songs are even about. This says a lot about the values of our society. It's certainly okay to enjoy a catchy tune, but once these songs start to have an affect on our beliefs and actions, there can be a serious problem. 

This also says something about Sefer Kohelet. Even though it was written thousands of years ago, this sefer is extremely universal and timeless. You can find the idea of a partying and living like there's no tomorrow in any culture or period of time. Kohelet must have indeed been incredibly wise if he was able to explore topics that relate to us even to this day.