The Happy Man is Self-Sufficient

The essence of Stoicism is that the happy man—which is, they say, the same as the wise man—is a person whose happiness depends only upon interior perfection. He is impervious to the winds of fortune. He does not care whether he loses his property, his reputation, or even his health. For, throughout all of those misfortunes, he carries with him his greatest treasure: his wisdom. Seneca does note that all men, even the wise men, have certain natural impulses and desires, however, which can never be completely blotted out. There seems to be a certain minimum amount of comfort that is necessary, not for happiness, but for the satisfaction of these instincts. A person needs adequate food, modest shelter, and a few friends. Seneca believes that in man's primordial state—the so-called Golden Age—all of these goods...