Seneca didn't despise wealth—he thought a wise person could hold it well. What he warned against was being held by it: letting the fear of losing money, or the hunger for more, run your inner life. Money is useful. It buys time, ease, the chance to help. But the moment it becomes the measure of your whole self, you've handed it power it shouldn't have. Today, try to see money as a tool—important, worth handling carefully, but still just a means. Your steadiness doesn't have to rise and fall with your balance. Use what you have wisely, and try not to let the wanting use you.

Inspired by the old idea of virtue as the only good. Written by Ugo Charles.