120 philosophical essays you must read in your life

Chapter 21

Chapter 1 Section 20 Between Rich and Poor

[India] Tagore

The difference between a real rich man and a poor man is that the former is rich and powerful, and can make his home have a large and open space.The furniture which fills his house may be valuable to a rich man, but the value of the space with which he makes his courts open and his gardens wide is infinite.A merchant's place of business is so full of goods that he cannot secure space for storage, he is miserly there, and though he may be a millionaire, he is penniless there.At home, however, some businessman despises the practicality of living in length, breadth, and height—not to mention the practicality of a large garden—and he places space on the throne of honor.This merchant's wealth lies here.

Not only is unoccupied space the highest value, but unoccupied time is also the highest value.A rich man has a lot of money, and he can buy leisure.In fact, this is a test of his wealth, to see if he has the strength to leave a large piece of time for leisure, even if "need" cannot force him to cultivate.

There is another realm, where the open space is the most important -- that is the inescapable thought that has to be thought in the human mind, which is nothing but vexation.The thoughts of poor and wretched people wrap their minds like ivy around ruined temples.

Pain closes all doors of the mind.So health may be defined as a state in which the biological consciousness relaxes, like an empty wasteland.Just a little bit of gout in the outermost toe fills the whole consciousness with pain, no corner is spared.

Just as an unoccupied space cannot live luxuriously, so the mind cannot think far and wide without unoccupied leisure--otherwise, for such a mind, truth becomes shallow.Like a dim light, shallow and insignificant truths distort vision, arouse fear, and keep the field of communication between people's thoughts and feelings always narrow.

The old man is cautious but not wise.Wisdom lies in the freshness of the mind, and the freshness of the mind enables one to realize that truth is not in the aphorism box, but that truth is free and active.

Great sufferings lead us to wisdom, for they are the pangs of childbirth in which our minds are freed from their habitual environment and thrown naked into the embrace of reality.Wisdom has the characteristics of a child and is perfected with the accumulation of knowledge and emotion.

【Together with you】

Few people talk about the difference between rich and poor without thinking about money, but in fact, the real rich are those who are rich in mind and heart.

The rich man does not possess property, but property possesses him.People with more property have less space for their own hearts, less freedom, and become slaves to wealth.Can such a person still be said to be rich?The philosopher said: There are people born with silver keys in their mouths, and there are people born with wooden handle spoons in their mouths.In fact, these people make up the world.

(End of this chapter)