Musnad Ahmad 30:199

Sufyan narrated to us, from Abu al-Zinad, from al-A'raj, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "By Allah, for one of you to take a rope, gather firewood, carry it upon his back, and then eat from it or give it in charity, is better for him than to come to a man whom Allah has enriched from His bounty and ask him, whether he gives him or refuses him. That is because the upper hand is better than the lower hand."