I stayed away from mathematics not so much because I knew it would be hard work as because of the amount of time I knew it would take, hours spent in a field where I was not a natural.
To work hard, to live hard, to die hard, and then go to hell after all would be too damn hard.
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found they forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.