XIII. The Charge of Hypocrisy

Seneca confronts the criticism directly. He is wealthy. He writes about the unimportance of wealth. He is asked how he reconciles the two.

Here is the attack, put together as sharply as possible:

Why do you talk more bravely than you live? Why do you hold your tongue in front of powerful men when you claim to fear no one? Why do you own property overseas when you teach that a wise man needs nothing? Why do you plant trees that produce nothing except shade, when every piece of land should be useful? Why is your furniture more elaborate than it needs to be? Why do you drink wine older than yourself? Why are your grounds carefully laid out like a garden when the Stoic should live simply? Why does your wife wear earrings worth a rich man's house? Why are your young servants trained to serve at table like performers? Why, if you cannot even name your slaves because you have so many of them, do you keep saying that wealth is a burden?

There it is. Every accusation set out in full. I will not dodge any of it.

I am not a wise man. I have never claimed to be. Do not demand that I be level with the best of men. Demand only that I be better than the worst. I am satisfied if every day I subtract something from my vices and correct some fault I find in myself. I have not arrived at perfect soundness of mind. I will probably never arrive at it. I compound palliatives rather than cures. I am satisfied if the illness returns at longer intervals and hurts less when it does.

I am making progress. That is not nothing.

Compare my feet to a man who cannot walk at all, and I am a runner. I say this not to boast but because it is the honest answer to an honest accusation. The target is clear. I know where I am falling short. I am working on it. That is more than most people can say.