Letter 17 — On Philosophy and Riches (§12)

“I do not wonder. For the fault is not in the wealth, but in the mind itself. That which had made poverty a burden to us, has made riches also a burden. Just as it matters little whether you lay a sick man on a wooden or on a golden bed, for whithersoever he be moved he will carry his malady with him; so one need not care whether the diseased mind is bestowed upon riches or upon poverty. His malady goes with the man. Farewell. ↑ Perhaps from the Hortensius; see Müller, Frag. 98, p. 326. ↑ Literally, “Water!” ↑ Frag. 479 Usener.”