Nec prorsum vitam ducendo demimus hilum tempore de mortis nec delibare valemus. - Lucretius

Yes, to seek power that's vain and never granted
and for it to suffer hardship and endless pain:
this is to heave and strain to push uphill
a boulder, that still from the very top rolls back
and bounds and bounces down to the bare, broad field.

So it is more useful to watch a man in times of peril, and in adversity to discern what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off, reality remains.

Cedit item retro, de terra quod fuit ante,
in terras.