" The jinni sighed. 'I'm less grateful to him than I should be. He's a good and generous man, but I'm not accustomed to relying on someone else. It makes me feel weak.’

'How is relying on others a weakness?'

'How can it be anything else? If for some reason Arbeely died tomorrow, I'd be forced to find another occupation. The event would be outside my control, yet I'd be at its mercy. Is that not weakness?'

'I suppose. But then, going by your standard, everyone is weak. So why call it a weakness, instead of just the way things are? "

― Helene Wecker , The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)