Life's often a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't - aphorisms contain the wisdom of after-thoughts and torment us with what we should have or could have done.

As for Old Hiram, oftentimes things aren't always the way they appear, but the dead can't set the record straight unless they return and even then some folks won't listen.

Inheriting wealth is the golden grail of all writers because you avoid being accountable to a patron - worse yet a publisher, lol, but ultimately, face it- you're not in the game to get rich but I do hope you have enough to get by, my friend :)