Let
us then teach ourselves to be able to dine without all Rome to look on, to be
the slaves of fewer slaves, to get clothes that fulfill their original purpose,
and to live in a smaller house.
The
inner curve is the one to take, not only in running races and in the contests
of the circus, but also in the race of life; even literary pursuits, the most
becoming thing for a gentleman to spend money upon, are only justifiable as
long as they are kept within bounds.
To take
the most direct path, to make do with just what is needed, to be bound by very
little, and to be content with Nature alone will be the surest aids in living
the happiest life possible.
It is not
necessary to complicate, to ornament and accessorize, to carry the weight of luxuries,
or to seek to be seen and admired. We think we become stronger by tying
ourselves to external diversions, only to find that they are dragging us along
after them.
Someone
once told me that my interest in Stoicism rested on the false premise that the
circumstances of my life were largely outside of my control. He prodded me to
expand the scope of my outside influence, not merely to settle for being
myself. I was willing to listen, because surely a man dies inside when he is no
longer open to learning something new.
“Look, it
isn’t that you can’t have all those things, it’s just that you haven’t figured
out how to go about getting them. You need to be smarter in working your way up
the ladder, you need to suck up a little more over here, and impose your will more
over there. Stop being so damned principled, and be more flexible, otherwise
you won’t get what you want!”
For a time,
those words made me feel rather confused. Perhaps I was just too weak, or not
clever enough, or unwilling to look the other way? It took me a while to get my
priorities back in order. This wasn’t a question of being strong enough to get what I wanted; it was a question of being wise
enough to know what I wanted.
Let me, for
the moment, assume that I could have the power to shape the world according to
my own will. This would require, of course, the most remarkable concurrence of
events, but even given such a possibility, is that something I should pursue?
Make me ever
so mighty, far-seeing, and charming! Would it make any difference in what constitutes
a good life?
None of
the other possessions will matter, if I did not first possess myself, and once
I possess myself, I will in turn require very little else in any event. The
temptation to becoming a manipulator comes only from having nothing of one’s
own to begin with. What else do I have if I don’t have the principles of my
conscience?
I was
glad to respect this fellow’s right to think and live as he chose, and I meant
him no ill will, but it threw me for a loop that he wasn’t a banker, or a lawyer,
or an investor, but rather a college professor. Here was an academic, a man who
was supposed to value wisdom above all else, and yet he spoke of compromising
his soul for worldly profit.
It is
interesting that Seneca will now finish this chapter with a consideration of the
vanity, ostentation, and greed of certain types of “scholars”. The lust for
acquisition is hardly limited to a desire for money.
Written in 10/2011
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