Sometimes we admire the powerful and the rich and we wish we were them.
A story is told of a man who lived year 360 B.C, called Damocles who told his king, Dionysius, that the King was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority,wealth and riches, Fame and popularity, surrounded by magnificence. In response, King Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that very fortune of being firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but King Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne, held at the handle of the sword only by a single hair of a horse's tail. When Damocles was seated at the throne he saw the sword handing above his head. The sword evoked the sense of what it is like to be king: though having much fortune, always having to watch in fear and anxiety against dangers that might try to overtake him. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great fortune and power comes also great danger.
Years Later Cicero, one of the great Philosophers used the story to convey the sense of constant fear in which a person with great power may live. He concluded by asking "Does not King Dionysius seem to have made it sufficiently clear that there can be nothing happy for the person over whom some fear always looms?"
Now, Take a look at some of the most powerful, rich, and famous people in the world. Ignore the trappings of their success and what they’re able to buy. Look instead at what they’re forced to trade in return—look at what success has cost them. Mostly? Freedom. Their work demands they wear a suit. Their success depends on attending certain parties, kissing up to people they don’t like. It will require—inevitably—realizing they are unable to say what they actually think. Worse, it demands that they become a different type of person or do bad things. Sure, it might pay well—but they haven’t truly examined the transaction. As Seneca put it, “Slavery resides under marble and gold.” Too many successful people are prisoners in jails of their own making. Is that what you want? Is that what you’re working hard toward? Let’s hope not.
There is nothing evil with being rich but "what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul", his own capacity to be a free man just because of riches maybe acquire through crude means and now you always live in constant fear that someone will come after you for vengeance. They have to forfeit their privacy and walk with security allover or maybe have sleepless night worried if they can keep their wealth for long
Be rich, be wealthy, be powerful but not at the expense of your freedom and peace.
Extracts from:Daily stoic- Ryan Holiday, Wikipedia, Bible, Photo from: Allposters.com
