Plain
Seneca — The Senator

A wound hurts just as much whether you have a big body or a small one. Bion made a clever point: "It hurts bald men just as much as hairy men to have their hair pulled out." You can be sure the same is true for rich and poor people. They suffer equally when they lose money. Money sticks to both groups, and you can't tear it away without them feeling pain. But as I said, it's easier to bear never having wealth than losing it once you have it. That's why you'll find that people who never had good fortune are often happier than those who once had it and lost it.

On Peace of Mind, Section 8 46 of 100
Facing Hardship What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

a wound causes the same amount of pain to the greatest and the smallest body. It was a neat saying of Bion's, "that it hurts bald men as much as hairy men to have their hairs pulled out": you may be assured that the same thing is true of rich and poor people, that their suffering is equal: for their money clings to both classes, and cannot be torn away without their feeling it: yet it is more endurable, as I have said, and easier not to gain property than to lose it, and therefore you will find that those upon whom Fortune has never smiled are more cheerful than those whom she has deserted.

On Peace of Mind, Section 8 46 of 100
Seneca — The Senator

Now let's talk about money and property — the biggest source of human misery. Compare all our other troubles — death, illness, fear, regret, physical pain and hard work — with the suffering that money causes us. Money troubles will outweigh all the rest. Think about this: it hurts much less to never have had money than to lose money you once had. This shows us that the less poor people have to lose, the less they suffer. You're wrong if you think rich people handle losses better than poor people do.

On Peace of Mind, Section 8 45 of 100
Facing Hardship What Matters Most
Seneca — The Senator Original

Let us now pass on to the consideration of property, that most fertile source of human sorrows: for if you compare all the other ills from which we suffer—deaths, sicknesses, fears, regrets, endurance of pains and labours— with those miseries which our money inflicts upon us, the latter will far outweigh all the others. Reflect, then, how much less a grief it is never to have had any money than to have lost it: we shall thus understand that the less poverty has to lose, the less torment it has with which to afflict us: for you are mistaken if you suppose that the rich bear their losses with greater spirit than the poor:

On Peace of Mind, Section 8 45 of 100
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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