Need and lack. Seneca, Epistles 1.9.13-15

What is the relationship between needing and lacking? Seneca parses need as something an intelligent person restricts to essentials, which he cultivates at home. Restriction shows some personal control; in this light, a wise person may decide to cultivate friendship. Lack, on the other hand, implies for Seneca the absence of any purpose or restriction: a blind reliance on fortune, which is characteristic of fools. A wise person does not lack friends, nor (strictly speaking) does he need them to survive or even thrive, but he will seek them purposely, the same way he seeks good food—as inessential but desirable. <Latin>.

Se contentus est sapiens. Hoc, mi Lucili, plerique perperam interpretantur: sapientem undique submovent et intra cutem suam cogunt. Distinguendum autem est quid et quatenus vox ista promittat: se contentus est sapiens ad beate vivendum, non ad vivendum; ad hoc enim multis illi rebus opus est, ad illud tantum animo sano et erecto et despiciente fortunam. Volo tibi Chrysippi quoque distinctionem indicare. Ait sapientem nulla re egere, et tamen multis illi rebus opus esse: contra stulto nulla re opus est—nulla enim re uti scit—sed omnibus eget. Sapienti et manibus et oculis et multis ad cotidianum usum necessariis opus est, eget nulla re; egere enim necessitatis est, nihil necesse sapienti est. Ergo quamvis se ipso contentus sit, amicis illi opus est; hos cupit habere quam plurimos, non ut beate vivat; vivet enim etiam sine amicis beate. Summum bonum extrinsecus instrumenta non quaerit; domi colitur, ex se totum est; incipit fortunae esse subiectum si quam partem sui foris quaerit.

“The wise man is content with himself.” Most interpret this phrase incorrectly, Lucilius. They banish the sage from every place they find him, forcing him to take refuge inside his own skin. The content of this phrase must be separated from the manner of its delivery: the sage is content to live well, not merely to live. Many things are necessary to life, but all the good life requires is a healthy mind, wide awake and contemptuous of fortune. I want to draw your attention to Chrysippus' judgment of this matter. He says that the sage lacks nothing, but nevertheless has need of many things. “The fool, in contrast, has need of nothing—for he does not know how to use anything—but he lacks all things.” The sage has need of hands, and eyes, and many other things necessary for daily life, but he lacks nothing. Lack is the essence of the necessity in which he has no share. Thus, though he is content with himself, he still has use for friends. He desires to have as many as possible, but not because they are essential to a good life: he will live well even without friends. The greatest good does not seek any expression beyond itself. It stays at home, complete in itself. The moment it looks for some part of itself outside, it begins to be subject to fortune.