Dialogues of Love

[those things that one does not] have are indeed desired and not loved, because they belong to others; but when they are acquired, the desire for them ceases and then they are loved as one's own things, and they are enjoyed with union and ownership. Nevertheless, even if the desire for those particular riches already possessed ceases, new desires for other foreign things are immediately born. Those men whose will looks toward the love of utility original: l'amore de l'utile. This refers to the pursuit of things for their practical benefit or material value. have diverse and infinite desires; as one ceases through acquisition, another larger and more distressing one arrives.

Such people never satisfy their will with such desires; the more they possess, the more they desire. They are like those who seek to quench their thirst with salt water: the more they drink, the greater the thirst it produces in them. This desire for useful things is called ambition or rather cupidity original: cupidita. A strong desire for wealth or possessions; greed.. The moderation original: temperamento. Finding the "middle ground" or balance, a key concept in Renaissance ethics. of this desire is called contentment, or rather the satisfaction with what is necessary. This is an excellent virtue and is also called sufficiency original: suffitientia. The state of being content with having enough to meet one's needs., because it is satisfied with the necessary.

The wise say that the truly rich man is he who is content with what he possesses. Just as the extreme of this virtue is the greed for the superfluous, so the other extreme is the ceasing to desire even what is needed, and this is called negligence original: negligentia. Here used to mean a lack of proper care for one's own basic needs or station in life..

SOPHIA. What do you say, Philo? Are there not many philosophers who judge that all riches should be abandoned? To tell the truth, some of them actually did leave them behind.

PHILO. This has indeed been the opinion of some Stoic and Academic philosophers Referring to the followers of Zeno (Stoics) and the followers of Plato's school (Academics), who often debated the value of external goods like wealth.. However, it is not "negligence" to cease desiring and providing for one's needs when they did so to devote themselves to the contemplative life original: uita contemplatiua. A life dedicated to study, meditation, and the search for truth rather than active business or politics. with intimate and con-