On the Uses of Adversity
“Nam nihil est, quod non mortalibus afferat usum.”
—PETRONIUS
Nothing there is that mortal man may utterly despise;
What in our wealth we treasured, in our poverty we prize.
The gold upon a sinking ship has often wrecked the boat,
While on a simple oar a shipwrecked man may keep afloat.
The burglar seeks the plutocrat, attracted by his dress—
The poor man finds his poverty the true preparedness.
