Fortune is like glass,—the brighter the glitter, the more easily broken.

The most impressive position is often the least stable. Things that shine tend to be finely made and finely balanced, dependent on conditions holding, and the qualities that make them enviable are the ones that make them fragile. What is plain and solid rarely attracts attention and rarely breaks.

When your circumstances are unusually good, spend some of the surplus on making them sturdier rather than more impressive. Savings, health, relationships that would survive a bad year. And be gentle with people whose bright arrangement has just broken, since that happens faster than anyone plans for.