You have saved me from becoming a mummy.

I see it all, Karl, and shudder to think of the life that might have been mine.

I take no pleasure in seeing gouty old dependents bowing, kneeling, and smirking before me.

Of course, these things are my prerogative, and a man born to them may not forego what is due to his birth even though it irks him.

But such an existence--I will not call it living--saps the juice of life.