"I know that joy always precedes sorrow and sorrow precedes joy; therefore it is as acceptable to me first to hear of storm when I am afterward to hear of sunshine as first to hear of sunshine and afterward of storm."
--Duke Berthold, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, 1113

Life is a cycle of ups and downs... but would you rather be up and then down or down and then up? It doesn't really matter though, it's a vicious cycle.