Tao Of Seneca Letter 17 - On Philosophy and Riches

► Tao Of Seneca Letter 17 - On Philosophy and Riches ◄

"Cast away everything of that sort, if you are wise.

Nay, rather that you may be wise.

Strive toward a sound mind at top speed and with your whole strength.

If any bond holds you back, untie it, or sever it.

“But,” you say, “my estate delays me; I wish to make such disposition of it that it may suffice for me when I have nothing to do, lest either poverty be a burden to me, or I myself a burden to others.”

You do not seem, when you say this, to know the strength and power of that good which you are considering.

You do indeed grasp the all important thing, the great benefit which philosophy confers, but you do not yet discern accurately its various functions, nor do you yet know how great is the help we receive from philosophy in everything, everywhere, – how, (to use Cicero’s language,) it not only succours us in the greatest matters but also descends to the smallest.

Take my advice; call wisdom into consultation; she will advise you not to sit for ever at your ledger.

Doubtless, your object, what you wish to attain by such postponement of your studies, is that poverty may not have to be feared by you.

But what if it is something to be desired? Riches have shut off many a man from the attainment of wisdom; poverty is unburdened and free from care.

When the trumpet sounds, the poor man knows that he is not being attacked; when there is a cry of “Fire,” he only seeks a way of escape, and does not ask what he can save; if the poor man must go to sea, the harbour does not resound, nor do the wharves bustle with the retinue of one individual.

No throng of slaves surrounds the poor man, – slaves for whose mouths the master must covet the fertile crops of regions beyond the sea.

It is easy to fill a few stomachs, when they are well trained and crave nothing else but to be filled. Hunger costs but little; squeamishness costs much. Poverty is contented with fulfilling pressing needs.

Why, then, should you reject Philosophy as a comrade? Even the rich man copies her ways when he is in his senses.

If you wish to have leisure for your mind, either be a poor man, or resemble a poor man. Study cannot be helpful unless you take pains to live simply; and living simply is voluntary poverty.

Away, then, with all excuses like: “I have not yet enough; when I have gained the desired amount, then I shall devote myself wholly to philosophy.”

This is letter 17. In this letter, Seneca talks about the being rich, what caution you need to take when you handle money and what wisdom comes from... being poor.

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