Boethius, The Consolation 3.15

“The man who would true power gain,

must subdue his own wild thoughts;

never must he let his passions triumph

and yoke his neck by their foul bonds.

For though the earth, as far as India's shore,

tremble before the laws you give,

though Thule bow to your service on earth's farthest bounds,

yet if you cannot drive away black cares,

if you cannot put to flight complaints,

then is no true power yours.

—from Book 3, Poem 5

If something is good in and of itself, pursue it without hesitation. But if something is only good by and through another thing, how is it worthy of pursuit for its own sake? Let what is inferior be subject to what is superior.

“But I wish to be rich and powerful!”

Certainly, you may prefer that way of life, but is being rich and powerful always good?

“Well no, but I’d like to be rich and powerful in the right way.”

Then be right first, and only then think about being rich and powerful. Attend to the absolute, and then consider the relative.

Being rich and powerful in the right way? Will that make you happy?

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want.”

But riches can harm you as quickly as they can help you, and worldly power over others can harm you as quickly as it can help you. Can living rightly ever harm you?

I see how many people have sought possessions above all else, and I see how many people have sought influence above all else. I have also seen how miserable it can make them, not because of the wealth and status itself, but because of the love of the wealth and status for itself.

Owning something or ruling something beyond ourselves seems so tempting, perhaps because we see it as a means to an end. But owning nothing or ruling nothing beyond ourselves can just as easily help us to live well.

The means should not be confused with the ends. Everything gives me a chance to do right, and having more out there does not necessarily make me better in here.

An insightful student of mine once pointed out that if we look at photographs of different Presidents of the United States, from the beginning of their terms to the end, we often see men who aged far too quickly, who seemed burdened with more and more, who were overcome with worry. He added that if we look at their writings and speeches, we see men who often began to recognize the inadequacy of their position as their years in power passed.

Compare Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address to his second. You will see a very different man.

Being in charge of a powerful nation and ruling over the greatest wealth makes many folks quite miserable. Living well, however, informed by a sense of right and wrong that measures all things, has never made folks miserable. It gives them meaning and purpose, and so it reveals happiness.

Has worldly power driven away your cares and complaints? I didn’t think so. Keep looking further, keep going deeper. True power will be found elsewhere.

Written in 9/2015