old age takes away from us what we have inherited and gives us what we have earned

In the olden days, I bet it was really embarrassing to turn up to a tea party and insult the party teapot. Someone would probably get a bit upset and some fine china could quite easily be broken in the ensuing scuffle. And then you'd feel bad and invite the party back to your place, and believe you me, you'd better have a pretty fancy teapot on hand, or the whole situation could escalate. That's why I have giant squid parties. No one ever makes fun of a giant squid.