. . . "Let me add that men who are worth anything not only easily manage well so far as the necessities of life are concerned, when they are in exile, but many acquire great fortunes.
"At any rate Odysseus, in worse plight than any exile one may say, since he was alone and naked and shipwrecked, when he arrived among strangers, the Phaeacians, was nevertheless able to enrich himself abundantly.
"And when Themistocles was banished from home, going to people who were not only not friendly, but actual enemies and barbarians, the Persians, he received a gift of three cities, Myus, Magnesia, and Lampsacus, as a source of livelihood.
"Dio of Syracuse too, deprived by Dionysius the tyrant of all his possessions, when he was banished from his country waxed so rich in exile that he raised a mercenary army, went with it to Sicily, and freed the island of the tyrant.
"Who, then, if he were in his right mind, looking at these cases would still maintain that banishment is the cause of want for all exiles?" . . .
--Musonius Rufus, Fragment 9 (tr Lutz)
I must remember not to swing between extremes, from loving fortune to despising fortune. Musonius had just told us that exile will hardly remove us from the necessities of life, for we do not need luxuries to live well. This does not mean, however, that exile will inevitably deprive us of any wealth, power, or honor. Quite the contrary, it could be an occasion to add greatly to our fortune. New situations could reveal new opportunities, and we can still use those opportunities to live well.
Exile will not necessarily make me rich or poor, just as staying at home will not necessarily make me rich or poor. I should never assume that a change of place or circumstance will lead me to poverty. Musonius gives three examples of men who ended up quite the opposite, richer and more powerful than they had been before.
So what will it be? Should I only worry about the necessities, or should I also pay heed to the luxuries? The answer, of course, is yes, but in different senses. All things of fortune, all things external to us, must be viewed as being indifferent. This does not mean that they do not matter, but how they matter depends entirely upon our judgment and use of them. We must never desire them for their own sake, but only ask how we can employ them well.
Exile could make me poorer, and the only thing that matters is how I live in those circumstances, because poverty does not measure the quality of my virtue. Exile could also, as it did above, make me far richer, and the only thing that matters is how I live in those circumstances, because wealth does not measure the quality of my virtue.
Years ago, I had met a kindly musician at a local Irish pub. I was bemoaning how I had foolishly chosen a vocation that would forever leave me one paycheck from the street. He understood, because his vocation was even leaner, as he didn't even get a paycheck, and was only one gig from the street.
But he smiled at me, and said, "I figured long ago that if the Good Lord made me poor, I'd be a good poor man, and if the Good Lord made me rich, I'd be a good rich man. Now I'm not sure which of those would be harder."
Whether exiles brings poverty or riches, and it could well bring either, Nature only asks that I make good use of whatever I have been given.
Written in 8/2013
Image: Domenico Peterlini, Dante in Exile (c. 1860):
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