Seneca Moral essays
Seneca: Do not, then, make any mistake: riches belong to…
Do not, then, make any mistake: riches belong to the class of desirable things. “Why then,” say you, “do you laugh at me, since you place them in the same position that I do?” Do you wish to know how different the position is in which we place them?
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Seneca’s moral essays. The reading beside it is ours.
Two people can have the same amount of money and be in completely different relationships with it. One treats it as a tool: earned honestly, used thoughtfully, ready to be lost if life demands it. The other treats it as oxygen, proof of worth, and protection from every fear. From the outside, their bank balances may look identical. Internally, one is free and one is terrified. This is why the Stoic does not condemn wealth itself. Wealth is useful. It can create options, support a family, and help people in need. But it becomes corrosive when it makes us compromise our values or when losing it feels like losing ourselves. Consider your own relationship with money today. Are you using it to serve a life you respect, or organizing your life around serving it? The answer matters more than the number.
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