"The founder of the universe, who assigned to us the laws of life, provided that we should live well, but not in luxury. Everything needed for our well-being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties. Let us use this gift of nature and count it among the greatest things." -SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 119.15b
("우주를 창조하신 분, 우리에게 삶의 법칙을 부여하신 분은 우리가 잘 살도록 하셨으나, 사치스럽게 살도록 하지는 않으셨습니다. 우리 복지에 필요한 모든 것은 바로 우리 앞에 있으며, 사치가 요구하는 것은 많은 고난과 불안 속에서 모아집니다. 이 자연의 선물을 사용하고 그것을 가장 큰 것들 중 하나로 여기도록 합시다." - 세네카, 도덕적 편지, 119.15b)
Even in his own time, Seneca was criticized for preaching Stoic virtues while accumulating one of the largest fortunes in Rome. Seneca was so rich that some historians speculate that major loans he made to the inhabitants of what is now Britain caused what became a horrifically brutal uprising there. His critics' derisive nickname for him was "The Opulent Stoic."
Seneca's response to this criticism is pretty simple: he might have wealth, but he didn't need it. He wasn't dependent on it or addicted to it. Nor, despite his large bank account, was he considered to be anything close to Rome's most lavish spenders and pleasure hunters. Whether his rationalization was true or not (or whether he was a tad hypocritical), his is a decent ...