Full Idea
What doubt can there be that the wise man has greater scope for displaying his powers if he is rich than if he is poor, since in the case of poverty only one kind of virtue exists - refusal to be bowed down and crushed.
Gist of Idea
There is far more scope for virtue if you are wealthy; poverty only allows endurance
Source
Seneca the Younger (On the Happy Life [c.60], §22)
Book Reference
Seneca: 'Dialogues and Essays', ed/tr. Davie,John [Penguin 2007], p.103
A Reaction
It is against this view that I see Jesus proposing poverty as central to virtue. But then he has the surprising view (to Seneca) that humility is a virtue. What Nietzsche calls the slaves' inversion of values.
Related Idea
Idea 13565 If wealth was a good, it would make men good [Seneca]