It is the mind, and not the coffers of a man, that is to be accounted rich. For though the latter be full, when I see yourself empty, I shall not think you rich; because men measure the amount of riches by that which is sufficient for each individual.
Has a man a daughter? then he has need of money. But he has two, then he ought to have a greater fortune; he has more, then he ought to have more fortune still; and if, as we are told of Danaus, he has fifty daughters, so many fortunes require a great estate.
For, as I said before, the degree of wealth is dependent on how much each individual has need of. He therefore who has not a great many daughters, but innumerable passions, which are enough to consume a very great estate in a very short time, how can I call such a man rich, when he himself is conscious that he is poor?
Many have heard you say, that no man is rich who cannot with his income maintain an army; a thing which the people of Rome some time ago, with their so great revenues, could scarcely do.
Therefore, according to your maxim, you never can be rich, until so much is brought in to you from your estates, that out of it you can maintain six legions, and large auxiliaries of home and foot.
You therefore, in fact, confess yourself not to be rich, who are so far short of fulfilling what you desire; you, therefore, have never concealed your poverty, your neediness, and your beggary.
Has a man a daughter? then he has need of money. But he has two, then he ought to have a greater fortune; he has more, then he ought to have more fortune still; and if, as we are told of Danaus, he has fifty daughters, so many fortunes require a great estate.
For, as I said before, the degree of wealth is dependent on how much each individual has need of. He therefore who has not a great many daughters, but innumerable passions, which are enough to consume a very great estate in a very short time, how can I call such a man rich, when he himself is conscious that he is poor?
Many have heard you say, that no man is rich who cannot with his income maintain an army; a thing which the people of Rome some time ago, with their so great revenues, could scarcely do.
Therefore, according to your maxim, you never can be rich, until so much is brought in to you from your estates, that out of it you can maintain six legions, and large auxiliaries of home and foot.
You therefore, in fact, confess yourself not to be rich, who are so far short of fulfilling what you desire; you, therefore, have never concealed your poverty, your neediness, and your beggary.
—from Cicero, Stoic Paradoxes 6
The Greeks had their Croesus, and the Romans had their Crassus, as I am sure that the people of any time or place can identify the moguls in their midst who are obsessed with hoarding money.
While my students will sometimes challenge me to openly condemn our contemporary billionaires, I refuse to bite. I do not know what goes on inside their heads, even if I have a few sneaking suspicions, and I always remain hopeful that those to whom much is given might still work out how much will be required.
I cannot be certain how to separate the fact from the fiction, but I have long found a sobering lesson in the story of Croesus and Solon. The wealthy king was hoping for the wise statesman to name him as the happiest man on earth, only to discover that Solon was far more impressed by the virtues of the humble. Croesus would remember this a few years later, after fortune had turned against him, and he finally understood where genuine happiness could be found.
In the end, how much property should a fellow really have? If I say that he should limit his wants to however much he truly needs, the covetous crowd will just take this as an excuse to consume more and more, because their desires know no limit. No, an accurate judgment about the necessities of life must begin with an honest appreciation of our human nature, where character comes before convenience.
I am also suspicious of anyone who dabbles in social engineering, convinced that he can dicate a universal budget for the rank and file. We all have certain gifts, and so we all have various degrees of responsibilities; I do not begrudge the landlord more money, not because he deserves to be pampered, but because he has a special duty to care for his tenants. Cicero’s example of raising a family is a wonderful one: if it can be within your means to have many children, no one should deny you this glorious opportunity.
What made Crassus different, however, was an enslavement to his passions, to the point where nothing the world had to offer could every satisfy him. Once someone says he requires a personal army in order to be significant, you may safely conclude that he has a seriously distorted sense of self-worth.
In my own peculiar way of looking at things, I often think of why George Bailey was the richest man in town, and why Mr. Potter was just a warped, frustrated old man.
The Greeks had their Croesus, and the Romans had their Crassus, as I am sure that the people of any time or place can identify the moguls in their midst who are obsessed with hoarding money.
While my students will sometimes challenge me to openly condemn our contemporary billionaires, I refuse to bite. I do not know what goes on inside their heads, even if I have a few sneaking suspicions, and I always remain hopeful that those to whom much is given might still work out how much will be required.
I cannot be certain how to separate the fact from the fiction, but I have long found a sobering lesson in the story of Croesus and Solon. The wealthy king was hoping for the wise statesman to name him as the happiest man on earth, only to discover that Solon was far more impressed by the virtues of the humble. Croesus would remember this a few years later, after fortune had turned against him, and he finally understood where genuine happiness could be found.
In the end, how much property should a fellow really have? If I say that he should limit his wants to however much he truly needs, the covetous crowd will just take this as an excuse to consume more and more, because their desires know no limit. No, an accurate judgment about the necessities of life must begin with an honest appreciation of our human nature, where character comes before convenience.
I am also suspicious of anyone who dabbles in social engineering, convinced that he can dicate a universal budget for the rank and file. We all have certain gifts, and so we all have various degrees of responsibilities; I do not begrudge the landlord more money, not because he deserves to be pampered, but because he has a special duty to care for his tenants. Cicero’s example of raising a family is a wonderful one: if it can be within your means to have many children, no one should deny you this glorious opportunity.
What made Crassus different, however, was an enslavement to his passions, to the point where nothing the world had to offer could every satisfy him. Once someone says he requires a personal army in order to be significant, you may safely conclude that he has a seriously distorted sense of self-worth.
In my own peculiar way of looking at things, I often think of why George Bailey was the richest man in town, and why Mr. Potter was just a warped, frustrated old man.
—Reflection written in 5/1999
IMAGE: Johann Georg Platzer, Croesus and Solon (c. 1750)
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