Meaning

Seneca argues that poverty is not a condition of having little but a condition of wanting more than one has. A person with modest means who feels content is, in the truest sense, wealthy. A person surrounded by abundance who still hungers for more is, in the truest sense, poor. The real measure of wealth is internal, rooted in the mind's relationship to desire rather than in the size of what one possesses.

Context

This line comes from Seneca's Letters to Lucilius, a collection of letters written to a younger friend that functions as a sustained course in Stoic living. Letter 2 is concerned with restlessness and the habit of constantly seeking new experiences, new possessions, and new situations in the belief that the next thing will finally bring satisfaction. Seneca argues that this restlessness is itself the problem, and that learning to stay with what one has is both a practical and philosophical discipline. The Letters remain one of the most readable and accessible works of ancient Stoic philosophy.

About the author

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Younger, was a Roman philosopher, statesman, and dramatist who lived from around 4 BCE to 65 CE. He held considerable political influence in Rome as an advisor to Emperor Nero, a relationship that ended in his forced suicide after he was implicated in a conspiracy. Throughout his life he wrote extensively on Stoic ethics, exploring themes of time, death, anger, friendship, and the good life. His work has influenced European thought continuously from antiquity through the present day.