The Consolation of Philosophy

by Boethius

Wealth which was thought to make a man self-sufficient in fact makes him dependent on outside help.

nature is satisfied with little, whereas nothing satisfies greed.

so far from being able to remove want, riches create a want of their own, there is no reason for you to believe that they confer self-sufficiency.

want you to see how true respect cannot be obtained through the insubstantial honours of high office;

‘Fame, in fact, is a shameful thing,

If there is anything good in nobility, I think it is only this: that there is a necessary condition imposed upon the noble not to fall short of the virtue of their ancestors.

‘Of bodily pleasure I can think of little to say. Its pursuit is full of anxiety and its fulfilment full of remorse.

that the end of pleasure is sorrow is known to everyone who cares to recall his own excesses.

‘All pleasures have one quality alike: They drive their devotees with goads. And like a swarm of bees upon the wing, They first pour out their honey loads, Then turn and strike their victim’s heart And leave behind their deep set sting.’

Look up at the vault of heaven: see the strength of its foundation and the speed of its movement, and stop admiring things that are worthless. Yet the heavens are less wonderful for their foundation and speed than for the order that rules them.

the good of the body is, when, as you know, all that you admire can be reduced to nothing by three days of burning fever.

‘The sum of all this is that because they can neither produce the good they promise nor come to perfection by the combination of all good, these things are not the way to happiness and cannot by themselves make people happy.

‘I have said enough to give a picture of false happiness,

the next thing is to show what true happiness is like.’

‘The reason is very clear. That which is one and undivided is mistakenly subdivided and removed by men from the state of truth and perfection to a state of falseness and imperfection.

Do you consider self-sufficiency as a state deficient in power?’

‘Not at...

let us add the state of being revered to sufficiency and

would such a combination be unrecognized and unknown, or famous and renowned?

Granted that it lacks nothing, possesses all power, and is supremely worthy of honour, ask yourself whether it would lack a glory which it cannot provide for itself and therefore whether it seems of qualified merit.’

can only say that in view of its nature it would be unsurpassed...

‘If there were, then, a being self-sufficient, able to accomplish everything from its own resources, glorious and worthy of reverence, surely it would also be supremely happy?’

this conclusion, too, is inescapable; sufficiency, power, glory, reverence and happiness differ in name but not in substance.’

‘Human perversity, then, makes divisions of that which by nature is one and simple, and in attempting to obtain part of something which has no parts, succeeds in getting neither the part – which is nothing – nor the whole, which they are not interested in.’

‘How does that ...

a man who pursues one of them to the exclusion of the others, cannot even acquire the one he wants.’

suppose someone should want to obtain them all at one and the same time.’

‘Then he would be seeking the sum of happiness. But do you think he would find it among these things which we have shown to be ...

‘No, I d...

it is impossible to find happiness among these things which are thought to confer each of the d...

‘I a...

turn your mind’s eye in the opposite direction and you will immediately see the true happiness that I promised.’

true and perfect happiness is that which makes a man self-sufficient, strong, worthy of respect, glorious and joyful.

happiness to be true happiness which, since they are all the same thing, can truly bestow any one of them.’

‘Do you think there is anything among these mortal and degenerate things which could confer such a state?’

‘No,

‘Clearly, therefore, these things offer man only shadows of the true good, or imperfect blessings, and cannot confer true and perfect good.’

‘Yes.’

what remains now is that you should see where to find this true happiness.’

what do you think we ought to do now in order to be worthy of discovering the source of that supreme good?’

‘We ought to pray to the Father of all things. To omit to do so would not be laying a proper foundation.’

‘Ri...

The soul once cut, in circles two its motion joins, Goes round and to itself returns encircling mind, And turns in pattern similar the firmament.

Grant, Father, that our minds Thy august seat may scan, Grant us the sight of true good’s source, and grant us light That we may fix on Thee our mind’s unblinded eye.

I think we now have to show where this perfect happiness is to be found.

‘The first question to ask is, I think, whether any good of the kind I defined a moment ago can exist in the natural world.

there can be no doubt that a true and perfect happiness exists.’

Wow.

‘Which is a very sound and true conclusion,’ I said.

I suppose that the imminent prospect of being bludgeoned to death can lead one to such leaps of logic into vapory nothing.

it follows that true happiness is to be found in the supreme God.’

Voila.

we have to agree that God is the essence of happiness.’