Or does he count the possibility of this loss a trifling matter?
Insignificant, then, must be the good whose loss can be borne so equably.

And, further, I know thee to be one settled in the belief that the souls of men certainly die not with them, and convinced thereof by numerous proofs; it is clear also that the felicity which Fortune bestows is brought to an end with the death of the body: therefore, it cannot be doubted but that, if happiness is conferred in this way, the whole human race sinks into misery when death brings the close of all.
But if we know that many have sought the joy of happiness not through death only, but also through pain and suffering, how can life make men happy by its presence when it makes them not wretched by its loss ?' SONG IV.
THE GOLDEN MEAN.
Who founded firm and sure Would ever live secure, In spite of storm and blast Immovable and fast; Whoso would fain deride The ocean's threatening tide;-- His dwelling should not seek On sands or mountain-peak.
Upon the mountain's height The storm-winds wreak their spite: The shifting sands disdain Their burden to sustain.
Do thou these perils flee, Fair though the prospect be, And fix thy resting-place On some low rock's sure base.
Then, though the tempests roar, Seas thunder on the shore, Thou in thy stronghold blest And undisturbed shalt rest; Live all thy days serene, And mock the heavens' spleen.
V.
'But since my reasonings begin to work a soothing effect within thy mind, methinks I may resort to remedies somewhat stronger.

Come, suppose, now, the gifts of Fortune were not fleeting and transitory, what is there in them capable of ever becoming truly thine, or which does not lose value when looked at steadily and fairly weighed in the balance?
Are riches, I pray thee, precious either through thy nature or in their own?
What are they but mere gold and heaps of money?
Yet these fine things show their quality better in the spending than in the hoarding; for I suppose 'tis plain that greed Alva's makes men hateful, while liberality brings fame.

But that which is transferred to another cannot remain in one's own possession; and if that be so, then money is only precious when it is given away, and, by being transferred to others, ceases to be one's own.

Again, if all the money in the world were heaped up in one man's possession, all others would be made poor.
Sound fills the ears of many at the same time without being broken into parts, but your riches cannot pass to many without being lessened in the process.