Remember that in life you ought to behave as you would at a banquet. Suppose something is passed around and is across from you. Reach out your hand and take some politely. It passes by: do not hold it back. It has not yet come to you: do not stretch to reach it, but wait till it comes to you. Behave this way toward children, toward a wife, toward wealth, and you will eventually be a worthy fellow banqueter of the gods. But if you do not take the things set before you, and even despise them, then you will be not only a fellow banqueter with the gods, but also a fellow ruler. Epictetus,
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