envy vs tranquility

"And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from envy of another.  
This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
It's true, isn't it?  It is as if envy makes the world go round.  Advertisements so often suggest that if we buy some object or service we will be like someone else: more beautiful, more popular, more comfortable, more powerful.

It might fuel the system, but our philospher challenges us:
"Better one handful with tranquility
than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind."
Hankering after what others have ... that is chasing after the wind.  It might be fun for a while, but it leaves on tired and empty.