There was a certain nobleman who kept a fool, to whom he one day gave a
staff, with a charge to keep it till he should meet with one who was a
greater fool than himself. Not many years after, the nobleman fell sick,
even unto death. The fool came to see him: his lord said to him--"I must
shortly leave you." "And whither are you going?" said the fool. "Into
another world," replied his lordship. "And when will you come again?
Within a month?" "No." "Within a year?" "No." "When then?" "Never."
"Never!" said the fool, "and what provision hast thou made for thy
entertainment there, whither thou goest?" "None at all." "No!" said the
fool, "none at all! Here then, take my staff; for with all my folly, I
am not guilty of any such folly as this."
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The divinity who rules within us, forbids us to leave this world without
his command.
--_Cicero._
444
When a man dies, they who survive him, ask what property he has left
behind. The angel who bends over the dying man, asks what good deeds he
has sent before him.
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Happy is, or ought to be, the man who owes nothing.
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If you would avoid paying debts, avoid incurring them.
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But wealth and power have no immortal day,
For all things ripen only to decay.
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