Letters 71.34

And we are constrained to acknowledge that there are great differences among the very followers of wisdom. One man has already made so much progress that he dares to raise his eyes and look Fortune in the face, but not persistently, for his eyes soon drop, dazzled by her overwhelming splendour; another has made so much progress that he is able to match glances with her,—that is, unless he has already reached the summit and is full of confidence.

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 71.34, translated by Richard Mott Gummere