This postI’ve been reading Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, and in chapter 5 of book 2, I found this gem of a passage:
Are riches truly your possession, or by their nature valuable? Which of them in particular? Gold and money in abundance? But their sheen is more attractive when they are doled out rather than gathered in, for avarice always breeds hatred, whereas generosity brings men fair fame. Now none of us can retain what is passed on to another, so money becomes valuable only when bestowed on others by the practice of giving, thus ceasing to be possessed…. The human voice can fill the ears of many at once without diminution, but men’s riches cannot pass to more than one unless they are fragmented; and when that happens, they must impoverish those who relinquish them. So how restrictive and poverty-stricken are these riches, which cannot be possessed in their entirety by the many, and which do not pass to any single person without leaving the rest in want!
Or is it the sparkle of jewels that attracts men’s eyes? Yet if their brilliance is something out of the ordinary, their brightness is the property of the jewels, not of the men who own them. Indeed, I am utterly astonished that men admire them, for can anything justifiably appear beautiful to a rational nature endowed with life, if it lacks the movement and physical frame of a living creature? Admittedly jewels can claim a measure of beauty at the lowest level, as being the work of the Creator with their own distinctive quality, but they rank below human excellence, and should in now way deserve the admiration of men.
I’ve cut out a few other examples Boethius lists here. Moving on, then:
All these examples make it crystal clear that none of the possessions which you count as yours actually belong to you. So if on the one hand they manifest no beauty worth acquiring, why should you grieve at losing them, or be glad at keeping them? And if on the other hand they are naturally beautiful, how is that relevant to you? You might have appreciated them on their own account, without making them part of your possessions….
Have you men no resources within you that you call your own, seeing that you seek your goods in things external and distinct from you? Has the world become so topsy-turvy that a living creature, whom the gift of reason makes divine, believes that his glory lies solely in possession of lifeless goods? Other creatures are content with what they have; but you, who are godlike with your gift of mind, seek to embellish your surpassing nature with the grubbiest of things, and in so doing you fail to appreciate what an insult you inflict on your Creator. He sought to make the race of men superior to all earthly things, but you have subordinated your dignity to the lowliest objects.
Amen, brother.
