“Satisfaction is natural wealth; luxury is artificial poverty”

We all know the name of Socratesthe man who revolutionized Western thought and the founder of moral philosophy. Classical Greek philosopher, who changed thinking by focusing on human beings, ethics, and virtue. Famous for his famous phrase “I only know that I know nothing”, he taught by questioning others through dialogue and irony.

Today we rescue one of his famous quotes that have transcended thousands of years and that today is binding on our way of life and society. Socrates with the phrase: «Satisfaction is natural wealth; “Luxury is artificial poverty” referred to the slavery to which people who needed luxurious objects to be happy lived.

When he walked through the markets of Athens and saw how the citizens coveted luxurious objects, he looked at them and said: “How happy I am to see so many things that I don’t need to be happy”. He argued that the more things you owned, the more time and energy you spent taking care of them, protecting them, and wanting more, which generated a dependency that he called “artificial poverty.”

Natural wealth and artificial wealth

Socrates proposed a thought of detachment from goods and psychological greed.

• Natural wealth: The body has its own natural alert system, which tells you when you are thirsty so you can drink water. When you drink water, the desire goes away. There is a point of physical saturation where pleasure ends, which is called “natural satisfaction.”
• Artificial wealth: Possession of luxurious objects does not calm any type of desire of the body. If your body asks you to drink water, a gold cup is just as useful as a clay one. Seeking to fill the ego only creates a feedback path that causes the search for more ego and luxury in an endless spiral.

Care of the soul

In Athens of the 5th century BC. C., excellence was associated with status, military and financial success. For Socrates, elements such as money and other material goods were neutral objects that by themselves do not generate happiness. In fact, Socrates maintained in his talks that giving wealth to someone without wisdom was dangerous.

Money is a tool with the ability to multiply the mistakes you make, the injustices and damage your own soul. He also defended that true freedom was achieved when a man is capable of maintaining reason above passions. The virtuous man is invulnerable to economic crises, since his greatest treasure is his character..