The Fir-Tree and the Bramble

A FIR-TREE said boastingly to the Bramble, "You are useful for
nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses."
The Bramble answered:  'You poor creature, if you would only call
to mind the axes and saws which are about to hew¹ you down, you
would have reason to wish that you had grown up a Bramble, not a
Fir-Tree." 


Better poverty without care, than riches with.