The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains; and it is sometimes base, and by indignities men come to dignities. The standing is slippery, and theregressiseithera downfall, orat least an eclipse, which is a melancholy thing: Cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere.

-Bacon, Francis,Viscount St Albans
  Essays, no.11,'Of Great Place'. The Latin is taken from Cicero's Familiar Letters, and translates as:'When you are not what you were, there is no reason to live.'