Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 11

Nescio, inquis, quomodo paupertatem iste laturus sit, si in illam inciderit. Nec ego, Epicure, an tuus iste pauper contempturus sit divitias, si in illas inciderit; itaque in utroque mens aestimanda est inspiciendumque, an ille paupertati indulgeat, an hic divitiis non indulgeat. Alioquin leve argumentum est bonae voluntatis grabatus aut pannus, nisi apparuit aliquem illa non necessitate pati, sed malle.

» Ni moi, comment ce pauvre, cet émule d’Épicure, s’il vient à tomber dans la richesse, la méprisera. C’est donc chez tous les deux l’âme qu’il faut apprécier : il faut démêler si l’un se complaît dans la pauvreté, si l’autre ne se complaît pas dans sa richesse. Autrement, faible preuve d’une résolution franche qu’un grabat ou des haillons, s’il n’est pas évident que c’est par choix, non par nécessité, qu’on s’y est réduit.

“Yes, but I do not know,” you say, “how the man you speak of will endure poverty, if he falls into it suddenly.” Nor do I, Epicurus, know whether the poor man you speak of will despise riches, should he suddenly fall into them; accordingly, in the case of both, it is the mind that must be appraised, and we must investigate whether your man is pleased with his poverty, and whether my man is displeased with his riches. Otherwise, the cot-bed and the rags are slight proof of his good intentions, if it has not been made clear that the person concerned endures these trials not from necessity but from preference.