As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.

Whatever separates people while they are living does not survive that final fact. Rank, money, reputation and luck all stop counting at the same point, and everyone arrives there on the same terms. It is a levelling that no arrangement has ever managed to negotiate around.

Held lightly, this is a corrective rather than a gloomy thought. It makes the hierarchies you spend your days inside look smaller, and the people inside them look more alike. Let that show in how you speak this week to whoever is furthest from you in status.