Boethius, The Consolation 2.5

“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)