Ecclesiastes is eternal because it has verified that there are no new vices, nor new hopes, that what has been done will be done again, and there will never be anything that has not already been done: in short, circumstances are different, but man is always the same, and always falls into the weaknesses of the past. The impression of change with time is illusory, since it is limited to external aspects of a permanent reality. Man is always man, and we can only expect him to be what he is.