“Now would I argue with you by these
few words which Fortune herself might use, and consider whether her demands are
fair:
“‘Why, O man,’ she might say, ‘do you daily
accuse me with your complainings? What injustice have I wrought upon you? Of
what good things have I robbed you? Choose your judge whom you will, and before
him strive with me for the right to hold your wealth and honors. If you can
prove that any one of these does truly belong to any mortal man, readily will I
grant that these you seek to regain were yours.
“‘When Nature brought you forth from
your mother's womb, I received you in my arms naked and bare of all things. I
cherished you with my gifts, and I brought you up all too kindly with my favoring
care, wherefore now you cannot bear with me, and I surrounded you with glory
and all the abundance that was mine to give.
“‘Now it pleases me to withdraw my
hand. Be thankful, as though you had lived upon my loans. You have no just
cause of complaint, as though you had really lost what was once your own. Why
do you rail against me? I have wrought no violence towards you. Wealth, honors,
and all such are within my rights. They are my handmaids. They know their
mistress. They come with me and go when I depart.
“‘Boldly will I say that if these, of
whose loss you complain, were ever yours, you would never have lost them at
all. Am I alone to be stayed from using my rightful power? The heavens may
grant bright sunlit days, and hide the same beneath the shade of night. The year
may deck the earth's countenance with flowers and fruits, and again wrap it
with chilling clouds. The sea may charm with its smoothed surface, but no less
justly it may soon bristle in storms with rough waves.’” . . .
—from
Book 2, Prose 2
When I
look at the things that I consider to me mine, I will remind myself not to be
too hasty in casting too wide a circle. I may not have much, I tell myself, but
what little I do have for myself are the things that I earned, that I have a
right to, and that were the rewards for my own efforts.
Now if I
think this through carefully, and not hastily take such a statement for granted,
I will find that the circle is far smaller than it would at first seem. As
Boethius will also soon learn, it really extends no further than my own mind
and my own will. So many of the things I think I own are hardly mine at all.
My
property may include the things that I use, that I lay some claim to, or that
seem to be under my possession. But in all cases these things came to me, and they
can just as easily be taken away. They are mine only as long as circumstances
permit them to be mine.
My
reputation may be something I think I deserve, dependent on my own achievements
and merits. But it depends entirely upon what others think and do, not upon
what I think and do. It is mine only as long as circumstances permit it to be
mine.
My
enjoyment and pleasure are surely mine, because I have provided the means for
them myself. But those means themselves come from wealth or position, and they
proceed from having certain objects of contentment be present. They are mine
only as long as circumstances permit them to be mine.
My own
body, its health, and my very life itself are still within my power. My body,
however, can be hurt and restrained, disease may befall it, and its existence can
be snuffed out in an instant, all from conditions beyond my control. It is mine
only as long as circumstances permit it to be mine.
I need
to take’s Fortune’s challenge very seriously. Can I prove that anything she has
offered was ever really something that belonged to me? If it was really mine to
begin with, then it could hardly be taken away, and if it wasn’t mine to begin
with, I have no grounds for being dissatisfied when it is taken away.
I may
desire and appreciate many things that Nature provides, but these are her
gifts, not my entitlements. I have no right to a sunny day, or to fruit from a tree. So too, I may want to be rich, and honored, and have a long and
healthy life, but these are Fortune’s gifts, not my entitlements.
I may
think I earned my education, my job, my home, or my vacation. No, whether I did
any work in their pursuit or not, they came to me through the ease of
convenience and utility. Some men have made great efforts to achieve, and yet
they receive absolutely nothing. Other men have made no effort at all, and yet
they receive absolutely everything. I can certainly decide what I will do, but
I cannot decide what Fortune will offer me.
I need
to be very careful about what I take credit for, and what I accordingly call my own.
Written in 7/2015
IMAGE: William Powell Frith, Poverty and Wealth (1888)
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