Letter 119
W henever I have made a discovery, I do not
wait for you to cry "Shares!" I say it to myself in your behalf.
If you wish to know what it is that I have found, open your pocket; it
is clear profit. What I shall teach you is the ability to become rich
as speedily as possible. How keen you are to hear the news!
And rightly; I shall lead you by a short cut to the greatest riches.
It will be necessary, however, for you to find a loan; in order to be able
to do business, you must contract a debt, although I do not wish you to
arrange the loan through a middle-man, nor do I wish the brokers to be
discussing your rating. I shall furnish you with a ready creditor,
Cato's famous one, who says: "Borrow from yourself!" No matter how small
it is, it will be enough if we can only make up the deficit from our own
resources. For, my dear Lucilius, it does not matter whether you
crave nothing, or whether you possess something. The important principle
in either case is the same - freedom from worry.
<Ep3-371>
B ut I do not counsel you to deny anything
to nature - for nature is insistent and cannot be overcome; she demands
her due - but you should know that anything in excess of nature's wants
is a mere "extra" and is not necessary. If I am hungry, I must
eat. Nature does not care whether the bread is the coarse kind or
the finest wheat; she does not desire the stomach to be entertained, but
to be filled. And if I am thirsty, Nature does not care whether I
drink water from the nearest reservoir, or whether I freeze it artificially
by sinking it in large quantities of snow. Nature orders only that
the thirst be quenched; and it does not matter whether it be a golden,
or crystal, or murrine goblet, or a cup from Tibur, or the hollow hand.
Look to the end, in all matters, and then you will cast away superfluous
things. Hunger calls me; let me stretch forth my hand to that which
is nearest; my very hunger has made attractive in my eyes whatever I can
grasp. A starving man despises nothing.
D o you ask, then, what it is that has pleased
me? It is this noble saying which I have discovered: "The wise man
is the keenest seeker for the riches of nature." "What", you ask, "will
you present me with an empty plate? What do you mean? I had
already arranged my coffers; I was already looking about to see some
stretch of water on which I might embark for purposes of trade, some state
revenues that I might handle, and some merchandise that I might acquire.
That is deceit - showing me poverty after promising me riches." But, friend,
do you regard a man as poor to whom nothing is wanting? "It is, however,"
you reply, "thanks to himself and his endurance, and not thanks to his
fortune." Do you, then, hold that such a man is not rich, just
<Ep3-373>
because his wealth can never fail? Would you rather have much,
or enough? He who has much desires more - a proof that he has not vet acquired
enough; but he who has enough has attained that which never fell to the
rich man's lot - a stopping-point. Do you think that this condition
to which I refer is not riches, just because no man has ever been proscribed
as a result of possessing them? Or because sons and wives have never
thrust poison down one's throat for that reason? Or because in war-time
these riches are unmolested? Or because they bring leisure in time
of peace? Or because it is not dangerous to possess them, or troublesome
to invest them? "But one possesses too little, if one is merely free from
cold and hunger and thirst." Jupiter himself however, is no better off.
Enough is never too little, and not-enough is never too much. Alexander
was poor even after his conquest of Darius and the Indies. Am I wrong?
He seeks something which he can really make his own, exploring unknown
seas, sending new fleets over the Ocean, and, so to speak, breaking down
the very bars of the universe. But that which is enough for nature, is
not enough for man. There have been found persons who crave something
more after obtaining everything; so blind are their wits and so readily
does each man forget his start after he has got under way. He who
was but lately the disputed lord of an unknown corner of the world, is
dejected when, after reaching the limits of the globe, he must march back
through a world which he has made his own. Money never made a man
rich; on the contrary, it always smites men with a greater craving for
itself. Do you ask the reason for this? He who possesses more
begins to be able to possess still more.
<Ep3-375>
T o sum up, you may hale forth for our inspection
any of the millionaires whose names are told off when one speaks of Crassus
and Licinus. Let him bring along his rating and his present property
and his future expectations, and let him add them all together: such a
man, according to my belief, is poor; according to yours, he may be poor
some day. He, however, who has arranged his affairs according to
nature's demands, is free from the fear, as well as from the sensation,
of poverty. And in order that you may know how hard it is to narrow
one's interests down to the limits of nature - even this very person of
whom we speak, and whom you call poor, possesses something actually superfluous.
Wealth, however, blinds and attracts the mob, when they see a large bulk
of ready money brought out of a man's house, or even his walls crusted
with abundance of gold, or a retinue that is chosen for beauty of physique,
or for attractiveness of attire. The prosperity of all these men
looks to public opinion; but the ideal man, whom we have snatched from
the control of the people and of Fortune, is happy inwardly. For
as far as those persons are concerned, in whose minds bustling poverty
has wrongly stolen the title of riches - these individuals have riches
just as we say that we "have a fever," when really the fever has us.
Conversely, we are accustomed to say: "A fever grips him." And in the same
way we should say: "Riches grip him." There is therefore no advice - and
of such advice no one can have too much - which I would rather give you
than this: that you should measure all things by the demands of Nature;
for these demands can be satisfied either without cost or else very cheaply.
Only, do not mix any vices with these demands. Why need you ask
<Ep3-377>
how your food should be served, on what sort of table, with what sort
of silver, with what well-matched and smooth-faced young servants?
Nature demands nothing except more food.
Dost seek, when thirst inflames thy throat, a cup of gold?
Dost scorn all else but peacock's flesh or turbot
When the hunger comes upon thee?
Hunger is not ambitious; it is quite satisfied to come to an end; nor does
it care very much what food brings it to an end. Those things are
but the instruments of a luxury which is not "happiness"; a luxury which
seeks how it may prolong hunger even after repletion, how to stuff the
stomach, not to fill it, and how to rouse a thirst that has been satisfied
with the first drink. Horace's words are therefore most excellent
when he says that it makes no difference to one's thirst in what costly
goblet, or with what elaborate state, the water is served. For if
you believe it to be of importance how curly-haired your slave is, or how
transparent is the cup which he offers you, you are not thirsty.
A mong other things, Nature has bestowed upon
us this special boon: she relieves sheer necessity of squeamishness.
The superfluous things admit of choice; we say: "That is not suitable ";
"this is not well recommended"; "that hurts my eyesight." The Builder of
the universe, who laid down for us the laws of life, provided that we should
exist in well-being, but not in luxury. Everything conducive to our
well-being is prepared and ready to our hands; but what luxury requires
can never be got together except with wretchedness and anxiety.
L et us therefore use this boon of Nature
by reckoning it among the things of high importance;
<Ep3-379>
Latin / Greek Original
(1) Quotiens aliquid inueni, non expecto donec dicas 'in commune': ipse mihi dico. Quid sit quod inuenerim quaeris? Sinum laxa, merum lucrum est. Docebo quomodo fieri diues celerrime possis. Quam ualde cupis audire! nec inmerito: ad maximas te diuitias conpendiaria ducam. Opus erit tamen tibi creditore: ut negotiari possis, aes alienum facias oportet, sed nolo per intercessorem mutueris, nolo proxenetae nomen tuum iactent. (2) Paratum tibi creditorem dabo Catonianum illum, a te mutuum sumes. Quantulumcumque est, satis erit si, quidquid deerit, id a nobis petierimus. Nihil enim,mi Lucili, interest utrum non desideres an habeas. Summa rei in utroque eadem est: non torqueberis. Nec illud praecipio, ut aliquid naturae neges — contumax est, non potest uinci, suum poscit — sed ut quidquid naturam excedit scias precarium esse, non necessarium.
(3) Esurio: edendum est. Utrum hic panis sit plebeius an siligineus ad naturam nihil pertinet: illauentrem non delectari uult sed impleri. Sitio: utrum haec aqua sit quamex lacu proximo excepero an ea quam multa niue clusero, ut rigore refrigeretur alieno, ad naturam nihil pertinet. Illa hoc unum iubet, sitim extingui; utrum sit aureum poculum an crustallinum an murreum an Tiburtinus calixan manus concaua, nihil refert. (4) Finem omnium rerum specta, et superuacua dimittes. Fames me appellat: ad proxima quaeque porrigatur manus; ipsa mihi commendabit quodcumque conprendero. Nihil contemnit esuriens. (5) Quid sit ergo quod me delectauerit quaeris? Videtur mihi egregie dictum, 'sapiens diuitiarum naturalium est quaesitor acerrimus'. 'Inanime' inquis 'lance muneras. Quid est istud? Ego iam paraueram fiscos; circumspiciebam in quod me mare negotiaturus inmitterem, quod publicum agitarem, quas arcesserem merces.
Decipere est istud, docere paupertatem cum diuitias promiseris. 'Ita tu pauperem iudicas cui nihil deest? 'Suo' inquis 'et patientiae suae beneficio, non fortunae. ' Ideo ergo illum non iudicas diuitem quia diuitiae eius desinere non possunt? (6) Utrum mauis habere multum an satis? Qui multum habet plus cupit, quod est argumentum nondum illum satis habere; qui satis habet consecutus est quod numquam diuiti contigit, finem. An has ideo non putas esse diuitias quia propter illas nemo proscriptus est? quia propter illas nulli uenenum filius, nulli uxor inpegit? quia in bello tutae sunt? quia in pace otiosae? quia nec habere illas periculosum est nec operosum disponere?
(7) 'At parum habet qui tantum non alget, non esurit, non sitit. ' Plus Iuppiter non habet. Numquam parum est quod satis est, et numquam multum est quod satis non est. Post Dareum et Indos pauper est Alexander. Mentior? Quaerit quod suum faciat, scrutatur maria ignota, in oceanum classes nouas mittit et ipsa, ut ita dicam, mundi claustra perrumpit. Quod naturae satis est homini non est. (8) Inuentus est qui concupisceret aliquid post omnia: tanta est caecitas mentium et tanta initiorum suorum unicuique, cum processit, obliuio. Ille modo ignobilis anguli non sine controuersia dominus tacto fine terrarum per suum rediturus orbem tristis est. (9) Neminem pecunia diuitem fecit, immo contra nulli non maiorem sui cupidinem incussit. Quaeris quae sit huius rei causa? plus incipit habere posse qui plus habet. Ad summam quem uoles mihi ex his quorum nomina cum Crasso Licinoque numerantur in medium licet protrahas; adferat censum et quidquid habet et quidquid sperat simul conputet: iste, si mihi credis, pauper est, si tibi, potest esse. (10) At hic qui se ad quod exigit natura composuit non tantum extra sensum est paupertatis sed extra metum. Sed ut scias quam difficile sit res suas ad naturalem modum coartare, hic ipse quem circumcidimus, quem tu uocas pauperem, habet aliquid et superuacui. (11) At excaecant populum et in se conuertunt opes, si numerati multum ex aliqua domo effertur, si multum auri tecto quoque eius inlinitur, si familia aut corporibus electa aut spectabilis cultu est. Omnium istorum felicitas in publicum spectat: ille quem nos et populo et fortunae subduximus beatus introsum est. (12) Nam quod ad illos pertinet apud quos falso diuitiarum nomen inuasit occupata paupertas, sic diuitias habent quomodo habere dicimur febrem, cum illa nos habeat. E contrario dicere solemus 'febris illum tenet': eodem modo dicendum est 'diuitiae illum tenent'. Nihil ergo monuisse te malim quam hoc, quod nemo monetur satis, ut omnia naturalibus desideriis metiaris, quibus aut gratis satis fiat aut paruo: tantum miscere uitia desideriis noli. (13) Quaeris quali mensa, quali argento, quam paribus ministeriis et leuibus adferatur cibus? Nihil praeter cibum natura desiderat.
(14) Ambitiosa non est fames, contenta desinere est; quo desinat non nimis curat. Infelicis luxuriae ista tormenta sunt: quaerit quemadmodum post saturitatem quoque esuriat, quemadmodum non impleat uentrem sed farciat, quemadmodum sitim prima potione sedatam reuocet. Egregie itaque Horatius negat ad sitim pertinere quo poculo (aquae) aut quam eleganti manu ministretur. Nam si pertinere ad te iudicas quam crinitus puer et quam perlucidum tibi poculum porrigat, non sitis.
(15) Inter reliqua hoc nobis praestitit natura praecipuum, quod necessitati fastidium excussit. Recipiunt superuacua dilectum: 'hoc parum decens, illud parum lautum, oculos hoc meos laedit'. Id actum est ab illo mundi conditore, qui nobis uiuendi iura discripsit, ut salui essemus, non ut delicati: ad salutem omnia parata sunt et in promptu, delicis omnia misere ac sollicite comparantur. (16) Utamur ergo hoc naturae beneficio inter magna numerando et cogitemus nullo nomine melius illam meruisse de nobis quam quia quidquid ex necessitate desideratur sine fastidio sumitur. Vale.