Seneca, On Peace of Mind 8.1

Chapter 8

Let us now pass on to the consideration of property, that most fertile source of human sorrows: for if you compare all the other ills from which we suffer—deaths, sicknesses, fears, regrets, endurance of pains and labors—with those miseries which our money inflicts upon us, the latter will far outweigh all the others.

Reflect, then, how much less a grief it is never to have had any money than to have lost it: we shall thus understand that the less poverty has to lose, the less torment it has with which to afflict us. For you are mistaken if you suppose that the rich bear their losses with greater spirit than the poor: a wound causes the same amount of pain to the greatest and the smallest body.

It was a neat saying of Bion's, "that it hurts bald men as much as hairy men to have their hairs pulled out.” You may be assured that the same thing is true of rich and poor people, that their suffering is equal for their money clings to both classes, and cannot be torn away without their feeling it.

My first instinct is to say that troubles arising from romantic love are just as prevalent as troubles arising from our possessions, but then I remember that so many problems of the heart actually reduce to problems about money; too many of the relationships I have seen are ultimately nothing more than means for social and financial status. Matters of the heart can devolve into matters of the wallet.

I discovered very quickly that if I was going to follow Stoicism in my life, I was going to be considered rather strange, and I would often find myself feeling quite lonely. Most people assume by default, many without ever reflecting on it, that money is what makes the world go around, that happiness or misery depend on the security of what we own.

Yet for Stoicism, at least in its classical sense, it is Providence that makes the world go around, and it is more than just figurative to say that Providence acts through love, the will to achieve the good in all things. Yes, love is the law, not money.

I am not a psychologist, of course, so I may be spouting complete nonsense, but I have long wondered what makes people want to be rich. Is it that possessions help us to better feel pleasure? Is the desire for pleasure, then, the false god we worship?

 Is it that wealth gives us a sense of importance? Is it vanity, then, that moves us to acquire more and more?

Is it that property gives us a feeling of power and security? I know that I, for one, long for money whenever I feel threatened by others. Is it comfort, then, that drives us to acquire more and more?

I offer another possibility, only because I have noticed it within myself, whenever I have the courage to stare into my own soul with honesty. Perhaps it is all wrapped up with the other models. Whenever I feel empty on the inside, I will habitually look to what I might acquire on the outside. Discerning my own weakness, I hope that strength can come from elsewhere.

For the Stoic, however, property is neither a good thing, nor a bad thing; it is, like all circumstances, indifferent. The worth of property depends upon the merit of character. Give a man more, or give him less, but what will matter the most is what he does with what is given to him.

At the same time, consider how much easier it will be to resist that temptation to be greedy, if there is nothing at all to desire. We might assume that the rich have no worries about their property, but the fact is that they most certainly do, with bells on. They have more, and they want more, and they have to fight all the harder to keep more from the rest of us.

If you have ever had much, you will know that having much leads to wanting more. If you have ever been rich, you will know that your sense of compassion will so easily shrivel, as your sense of entitlement will so easily grow.

The rich man is no more immune to greed than the poor man.

Better, then, to own little or no property; it might finally be an aid to owning ourselves.

Bion of Borysthenes surely had it right: it hurts to lose money, and it makes little difference whether we are rich or poor; the pain is much the same.

Take the pain, and then redirect it into something of real benefit. Give all of yourself, asking for nothing else. Make virtue your currency, not money.

Written in 9/2011

IMAGE: Bion of Borysthenes