De Vita Beata

He was accused of hypocrisy his whole life, and he answered it in writing.

In an essay called On the Happy Life, he basically says, Yes, I'm rich.

And no, it doesn't make me a fraud.

The wise man isn't required to be poor.

According to Tacitus, the accusation, uh, made against him was that he'd piled up three hundred million sesterces in four years at the emperor's side when a legionary earned, uh, under a thousand a year.

And he knew what people said, so in an essay called On the Happy Life, he answered them, and it's the best thing I know on rich versus wealthy.

To his critic, "With me, riches occupy a certain place, but with you, they occupy the highest place of all.

In fine, my riches belong to me; you belong to your riches." My riches belong to me; you belong to your riches.