A spider is proud when it has caught a fly, and another when he has caught a poor hare, and another when he has taken a little fish in a net, and another when he has taken wild boars, and another when he has taken bears, and another when he has taken Sarmatians.
In his private meditations, Marcus Aurelius uses a series of escalating examples to illustrate the nature of pride and achievement across different beings.
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And how small a part of the whole substance; and how small a part of the universal soul; and on what a small clod of the whole earth thou creepest!
What remains, except to enjoy life by joining one good thing to another so as not to leave even the smallest intervals between?
But it is inconsistent with honoring reason and God to be troubled because by death a man will be deprived of the other things.
But if it is easy to set little value on all these things, turn to that which remains, which is to follow reason and God.
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