And then there are the moments, maybe more toward middle or old age, when the leopard comes down out of the hills and just sits there in the middle of the doorframe.  He stares at you inescapably.  He demands your justification.  What good have you served?  For what did you come?  What sort of person have you become?  There are no excuses at that moment.  Everybody has to throw off the mask.*
David Brooks

*David Brooks’ The Second Mountain.