Paradox 6: That the Wise Man Alone Is Rich
[Translator's note: This paradox is addressed to Marcus Crassus.]
What means this unbecoming ostentation in making mention of your money?
You are the only rich man! Immortal gods! Ought I not to rejoice that I have heard and learned something?
You the only rich man! What if you are not rich at all? What if you even are a beggar? For whom are we to understand to be a rich man?
To what kind of a man do we apply the term? To the man as I suppose, whose possessions are such that he may be well contented to live liberally, who has no desire, no hankering after, no wish for more.
It is your own mind, and not the talk of others, nor your possessions, that must pronounce you to be rich; for it ought to think that nothing is wanting to it, and care for nothing beyond.
Is it satiated, or even contented with your money? I admit that you are rich; but if for the greed of money you think no source of profit disgraceful (though your order cannot make any honest profits), if you every day are cheating, deceiving, craving, jobbing, poaching, and pilfering; if you rob the allies and plunder the treasury; if you are forever longing for the bequests of friends, or not even waiting for them, but forging them yourself, are such practices the indications of a rich or a needy man?
—from Cicero, Stoic Paradoxes 6
I regularly get myself into trouble when I talk about money, such that those on the right call me a bleeding-heart socialist, and those on left call me a running dog of capitalism. I am neither, however, since I do not believe that this or that system for distributing property can ever redeem us.
Let a man be as rich or as poor as he wishes, but it is the content of his character that will define him. Crassus was flawed because of his insatiable greed, not because he happened to be so immensely wealthy. This is why the story has it that the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat.
Remember, money is not the root of all evil; it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. All the problems of economics would instantly disappear if we could just manage to be virtuous first and foremost.
A proper understanding of being rich would involve being content with what we have, instead of constantly wanting more and more. By such a definition, Crassus was downright impoverished, since he was never satisfied with what his abundance, and was always looking to increase his fortune.
I have noticed much the same in so many of the affluent people I have known, who work on the assumption that something is wrong is their profits aren’t constantly increasing. While it may sound naïve, why can’t a business be considered a success if it manages to break even by providing a useful service? That way one man makes a living by helping another man to make his living, with no further bells and whistles required.
I would further suggest that any problems in the disparity of wealth will arise from people being so desperately confused about how much is enough, and I will probably shock you when I say that the prevalent practice of usury, the act of making money from money, is at the root of so many of our social evils. No, Mr. Gekko, greed is not good. If we are modest in our desires, we can always make certain there is enough to go around.
What is the use in having so much property, if I lack the wisdom to use it well? Indeed, it turns out that the more I understand about my nature, the more I also realize how little is necessary to live with excellence. If I can become richer in spirit, I will not demand to have such a fat wallet, or feel the urge to divert myself with so many superfluous luxuries.
I regularly get myself into trouble when I talk about money, such that those on the right call me a bleeding-heart socialist, and those on left call me a running dog of capitalism. I am neither, however, since I do not believe that this or that system for distributing property can ever redeem us.
Let a man be as rich or as poor as he wishes, but it is the content of his character that will define him. Crassus was flawed because of his insatiable greed, not because he happened to be so immensely wealthy. This is why the story has it that the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat.
Remember, money is not the root of all evil; it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. All the problems of economics would instantly disappear if we could just manage to be virtuous first and foremost.
A proper understanding of being rich would involve being content with what we have, instead of constantly wanting more and more. By such a definition, Crassus was downright impoverished, since he was never satisfied with what his abundance, and was always looking to increase his fortune.
I have noticed much the same in so many of the affluent people I have known, who work on the assumption that something is wrong is their profits aren’t constantly increasing. While it may sound naïve, why can’t a business be considered a success if it manages to break even by providing a useful service? That way one man makes a living by helping another man to make his living, with no further bells and whistles required.
I would further suggest that any problems in the disparity of wealth will arise from people being so desperately confused about how much is enough, and I will probably shock you when I say that the prevalent practice of usury, the act of making money from money, is at the root of so many of our social evils. No, Mr. Gekko, greed is not good. If we are modest in our desires, we can always make certain there is enough to go around.
What is the use in having so much property, if I lack the wisdom to use it well? Indeed, it turns out that the more I understand about my nature, the more I also realize how little is necessary to live with excellence. If I can become richer in spirit, I will not demand to have such a fat wallet, or feel the urge to divert myself with so many superfluous luxuries.
—Reflection written in 5/1999
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