No one is so lucky that Fortune always smiles on them when they keep pushing their luck. And here's what happens: when someone sees several projects fail despite their hopes, they get fed up with people and circumstances. The smallest thing sets them off — they rage at people, at their work, at places, at fortune, or at themselves. So if you want peace of mind, don't let yourself get pulled in every direction. Don't exhaust yourself with huge tasks or goals that are beyond your reach. It's easy to carry a light load on your shoulder and shift it from side to side without dropping it. But we struggle with burdens that other people pile on us. When we're overloaded, we try to dump them on our neighbors. Even when we manage to stay upright under the weight, we still stagger beneath a load that's too much for us.
No one is so favoured by Fortune as to find her always on his side if he tempts her often: and from this it follows that he who sees several enterprises turn out contrary to his wishes becomes dissatisfied with both men and things, and on the slightest provocation flies into a rage with people, with undertakings, with places, with fortune, or with himself. In order, therefore, that the mind may be at peace, it ought not to be hurried hither and thither, nor, as I said before, wearied by labour at great matters, or matters whose attainment is beyond its strength. It is easy to fit one's shoulder to a light burden, and to shift it from one side to the other without dropping it: but we have difficulty in bearing the burdens which others' hands lay upon us, and when overweighted by them we fling them off upon our neighbours. Even when we do stand upright under our load, we nevertheless reel beneath a weight which is beyond our strength.