Alexander the Great, like so many talented people, wanted to be the best. He wanted to have the most. He could not be satisfied, and this propelled him to great heights, great lengths, and greatness. It quite literally took him to the ends of the earth.

And then?

As the poet Juvenal writes, “When Alexander The Great was alive the world was not big enough to contain his ambition but while Alexander chafed at the confines of the world in life, in death, a coffin was enough.”

To the Stoics, to Marcus Aurelius in particular, this was a cautionary tale. We have to resist the delusion that our specialiness makes us immune from criticism or consequences. We can’t let our accomplishments fool us into thinking that we are immortal, that we can outthink, outrun, outwork death. That we are exempted from the rules, or simply from being a decent person.

Now, of course, today, few of us actually desire to conquer the world. Few of us truly think we’re descended from the gods. But that doesn’t mean our egos can’t get the best of us. It does mean our drives can’t get ahead of us.

Which is why we have to stop and check ourselves. The great Iron Maiden lyric is worth thinking about every so often: “Measure your coffin / does it measure up to your lust?” This thing you’re chasing, that you want so badly? Can you take it with you when you die? This thing you’re spending every waking moment on, is it worth, as Seneca asks, the cost of your life? Because that’s what you’re using to pay for it—time you can never get back.

In the end, we all fit in the same small pine box. Or the same urn. Remember that. Let it humble you. Let it put things in perspective.