I live in the Los Angeles area, and I mentioned to a colleague today that, because I have two small children—a two year old and a five year old—the outbreak of cases of swine flu in Mexico City, Texas, and California had unnerved me, and made me reluctant to bring my kids to the UCLA Festival of Books tomorrow. Her response was to quote Francis Bacon to me:
He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.
Prometheus Unbound 