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Now picture the times of Vespasian, and this is what you will see: men marrying, raising children, getting sick, dying, going to war, partying, engaging in business, farming, flattering, bragging, suspecting, scheming, hoping for others to die, complaining about hard times, making love (or wanting to), making money (or wanting to), coveting high office and seeking to be crowned king; but where is all this teeming life now? Leap ahead to the times of Trajan, and what will you find? The same, of course, and it too dead and gone. For that matter, examine the history of any people or time. See how hard they strove and how soon they vanished back into the elements from which they were born. But most of all, consider those you personally have known who, ignoring the good that lay at their feet, ran after some vain thing and never found the happiness that was within their reach all the time. A man’s interest in an object should be no greater than its intrinsic worth. Remember this and you will not become distracted by trivialities or discouraged if you never get around to some of life’s details.