John Chrysostom, On Anna I

for the most part abstaining from the drinking of water which comes upon them; but the poor man throughout his whole life fearlessly enjoys these streams, as if to springs of honey, so he runs to the springs of waters, and from there reaps a sincere and pure pleasure. And what of the nature of fire? Is it not more necessary than ten thousand treasures and all human wealth? And this treasure, again, is set forth equally for the use of the rich and the poor. And the benefit that comes to our bodies from the air, and the light of the sunbeam, does it come more to the wealthy and less to the poor, and do the former see it with four eyes, but the latter with only two? But not even this could one say; for both to the rich and to the poor an equal measure of enjoyment has been appointed, or rather, even here one might see the poor having the advantage over the wealthy, inasmuch as they have clearer senses, and a keener eye, and more precise perceptions in all things. Therefore they also reap a more genuine pleasure, and more luxuriate and delight in the contemplation of creation. And not only in these elements, but also in the other things brought to us by nature, you will see great equality, or rather, the advantage being with the poor. For sleep, which is sweeter and more necessary than any luxury, and more useful than any food, is easier for the poor than for the rich; and not only easier, but also more genuine. For to them, much luxury, and eating without being hungry, and drinking without being thirsty, and sleeping without being drowsy, tends to dissolve the pleasure in all things; for it is not so much the nature of the things, as the necessity of need that makes each of these pleasant to us. For drinking sweet and fragrant wine is not so accustomed to delight as drinking water when thirsty; not so much eating cakes, as eating when hungry; not so much sleeping on a soft bed, as sleeping when drowsy; all of which are found more among the poor than among the rich. Are not the things of the body's health and of all other well-being set forth in common for both rich and poor? Can anyone say or show that only the poor are sick, while the rich remain always in perfect health? On the contrary, indeed, it is possible to see the poor not easily captured by incurable diseases, while these sprout up everywhere in the bodies of the wealthy. For gout, and headaches, and paralyses, and incurable convulsions of the nerves, and all kinds of evil and corrupt fluxes, are accustomed to trouble especially those who live in luxury, those who smell of perfumes, not those who labor and toil, and from their daily work provide their necessary food. 5. For this reason also, of the beggars, those who live with luxury are all more wretched; and to this not even the luxurious themselves would object. For often a rich man lying on a soft bed, with male and female servants present, enjoying much attention from all, upon hearing a poor man crying through the alley, begging for bread, has wept, and groaned, and prayed to be such a one with health, than to have sickness with his wealth. And not only concerning health, but again also concerning the begetting of children, one will see the rich man has no advantage over the poor; but similarly, both among these and among those there are both many children 54.675 and childlessness; or rather, even here one might see the rich man at a disadvantage. For the poor man, even if he does not become a father, does not feel much pain; but the rich man, the more he sees his substance increasing, the more he is stung by his childlessness, feeling no pleasure because of the absence of an heir. And the inheritance of the poor man, even if he depart childless, being of little value is not fought over, and passed to friends and relatives; but that of the rich man, drawing many eyes to itself from every side, has often come into the hands of the enemies of the deceased; and this while he was alive, and saw it coming upon

ἐγγινομένης αὐτοῖς τὰ πολλὰ ὑδροποσίας ἀπεχομένους· ὁ δὲ πένης 54.674 διὰ τοῦ βίου παντὸς ἀδεῶς ἀπολαύει τῶν ναμάτων τούτων, ὡς ἐπὶ πηγὰς μέλιτος, οὕτως ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ὑδάτων τρέχων πηγὰς, καὶ εἰλικρινῆ καὶ καθαρὰν ἐκεῖθεν καρπούμενος τὴν ἡδονήν. Τί δὲ ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς φύσις; οὐχὶ μυρίων ἀναγκαιοτέρα θησαυρῶν καὶ πλούτου παντὸς ἀνθρωπίνου; Καὶ οὗτος πάλιν ἐξ ἴσης πλουσίῳ καὶ πένητι πρόκειται τῆς χρείας ὁ θησαυρός. Ἡ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ ἀέρος γινομένη τοῖς σώμασιν ἡμῶν ὠφέλεια, καὶ τὸ φῶς τῆς ἀκτῖνος, ἆρα τοῖς μὲν εὐπόροις πλέον, τοῖς δὲ πένησιν ἔλαττον παραγίνεται, κἀκεῖνοι μὲν τέτρασιν, οὗτοι δὲ δύο μόνον καθορῶσιν αὐτὸ ὀφθαλμοῖς; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἂν ἔχοι τις εἰπεῖν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ πλουσίοις καὶ πένησιν ἴσον τῆς ἀπολαύσεως ὥρισται μέτρον, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοὺς πένητας τῶν πλουτούντων πλεονεκτοῦντας ἴδοι τις ἂν, ὅσῳ καὶ τρανοτέρας τὰς αἰσθήσεις, καὶ ὀξύτερον τὸ ὄμμα, καὶ ἀκριβεστέρας ἔχουσι τὰς ἀντιλήψεις ἁπάσας. ∆ιὸ καὶ γνησιωτέραν καρποῦνται τὴν ἡδονὴν, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐντρυφῶσι καὶ ἀπολαύουσι τῇ θεωρίᾳ τῆς κτίσεως. Οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν στοιχείων δὲ μόνον τούτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παρὰ τῆς φύσεως εἰσενεχθέντων ἡμῖν, πολλὴν ὄψει τὴν ἰσότητα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν πλεονεξίαν παρὰ τοῖς πένησιν οὖσαν. Καὶ γὰρ ὕπνος, ὁ πάσης τρυφῆς ἡδίων καὶ ἀναγκαιότερος, καὶ τροφῆς ἁπάσης χρησιμώτερος, εὐκολώτερος τοῖς πένησιν, ἢ τοῖς πλουσίοις ἐστίν· οὐκ εὐκολώτερος δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰλικρινέστερος. Ἐκείνοις μὲν γὰρ ἡ πολλὴ τρυφὴ, καὶ τὸ μήτε πεινῶντας ἐσθίειν, μήτε διψῶντας πίνειν, μήτε καθεύδειν νυστάζοντας, τὴν ἐν ἅπασιν ἡδονὴν ἐκλύειν εἴωθεν· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσις, ὡς τὸ τῆς χρείας ἀναγκαῖον ἕκαστον ἡμῖν τούτων ἡδὺ καθίστησιν. Οὐχ οὕτω γοῦν τὸ πίνειν οἶνον ἡδὺν καὶ ἀνθοσμίαν, ὡς τὸ διψῶντας πίνειν ὕδωρ εὐφραίνειν εἴωθεν· οὐχ οὕτω τὸ πλακοῦντας ἐσθίειν, ὡς τὸ πεινῶντας ἐσθίειν· οὐχ οὕτω τὸ καθεύδειν ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς ἁπαλῆς, ὡς τὸ νυστάζοντας καθεύδειν· ἅπερ ἅπαντα παρὰ τοῖς πένησι μᾶλλόν ἐστιν, ἢ παρὰ τοῖς πλουτοῦσι. Τὰ δὲ τῆς ὑγιείας τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῆς ἄλλης εὐεξίας ἁπάσης οὐ κοινὰ καὶ πλουσίοις καὶ πένησι πρόκειται; Μὴ δύναταί τις εἰπεῖν ἢ δεῖξαι, ὅτι πένητες μὲν ἀῤῥωστοῦσι μόνον, πλούσιοι δὲ διὰ παντὸς ἐν καθαρᾷ διαμένουσιν ὑγιείᾳ; Τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, πένητας μὲν οὐ ῥᾳδίως ἁλισκομένους τοῖς ἀνιάτοις νοσήμασι, πανταχοῦ δὲ ἐν τοῖς τῶν πλουτούντων σώμασι ταῦτα βλαστάνοντα. Ποδαλγίαι γοῦν, καὶ καρηβαρίαι, καὶ παρέσεις, καὶ νεύρων ἀνήκεστοι διαστροφαὶ, καὶ πονηρὰ καὶ διεφθαρμένα ῥεύματα παντοδαπὰ, κἀκείνοις μάλιστα ἐνοχλεῖν εἴωθε τοῖς τρυφῶσι, τοῖς μύρων ὄζουσιν, οὐ τοῖς πονοῦσι καὶ ταλαιπωρουμένοις, καὶ ἐκ τῆς καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐργασίας τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τροφὴν πορίζουσι. εʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τῶν προσαιτῶν οἱ τρυφῇ συζῶντες ἀθλιώτεροι πάντες· καὶ τοῦτο οὐδ' ἂν αὐτοὶ οἱ τρυφῶντες ἀντείποιεν. Πολλάκις γοῦν πλούσιος ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς κατακείμενος ἁπαλῆς, οἰκετῶν καὶ θεραπαινίδων παρόντων, πολλῆς θεραπείας ἀπολαύων παρὰ πάντων, πένητος διὰ τοῦ στενωποῦ ἀκούσας βοῶντος, ἄρτον αἰτοῦντος, ἐδάκρυσε, καὶ ἐστέναξε, καὶ ηὔξατο γενέσθαι τοιοῦτος μετὰ τῆς ὑγιείας, ἢ μετὰ τοῦ πλούτου τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν ἔχειν. Οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑγιείας δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς παιδοποιίας πάλιν οὐδὲν ὄψεταί τις τὸν πλούσιον τοῦ πένητος πλεονεκτοῦντα· ἀλλ' ὁμοίως καὶ παρὰ τούτοις, καὶ παρ' ἐκείνοις καὶ πολυπαιδίαι 54.675 καὶ ἀπαιδίαι· μᾶλλον δὲ κἀνταῦθα ἴδοι τις ἂν τὸν πλούσιον ἐλαττούμενον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πένης, κἂν μὴ γένηται πατὴρ, οὐ πολλῆς αἰσθάνεται τῆς ὀδύνης· ὁ δὲ πλούσιος, ὅσῳ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐξομένην ὁρᾷ, τοσούτῳ δάκνεται μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπαιδίας, οὐδεμιᾶς ἡδονῆς αἰσθανόμενος διὰ τὴν ἐρημίαν τοῦ κληρονόμου. Καὶ τοῦ πένητος μὲν ὁ κλῆρος, κἂν ἄπαις ἀπέλθῃ, διὰ τὴν εὐτέλειαν οὐκ ὢν περιμάχητος, εἰς φίλους διέβη καὶ συγγενεῖς· ὁ δὲ τοῦ πλουτοῦντος πολλοὺς πάντοθεν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὀφθαλμοὺς ἕλκων, εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ τετελευτηκότος ἦλθε πολλάκις· καὶ ταῦτα ζῶν ἐκεῖνος, καὶ βλέπων ἐφ'