22. “Next I pass to you, you whose bottomless and insatiable maw explores on the one hand the seas, on the other the earth, with enormous toil hunting down your prey, now with hook, now with snare, now with nets of various kinds; no animal has peace except when you are cloyed with it.
And how slight a portion of those banquets of yours, prepared for you by so many hands, do you taste with your pleasure-jaded palate!
How slight a portion of all that game, whose taking was fraught with danger, does the master’s sick and squeamish stomach relish?
How slight a portion of all those shell-fish, imported from so far, slips down that insatiable gullet?
Poor wretches, do you not know that your appetites are bigger than your bellies?”
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the parts of philosophy
Location: Chapter 89, Section 22
Content:
22. “Next I pass to you, you whose bottomless and insatiable maw explores on the one hand the seas, on the other the earth, with enormous toil hunting down your prey, now with hook, now with snare, now with nets of various kinds; no animal has peace except when you are cloyed with it.
And how slight a portion of those banquets of yours, prepared for you by so many hands, do you taste with your pleasure-jaded palate!
How slight a portion of all that game, whose taking was fraught with danger, does the master’s sick and squeamish stomach relish?
How slight a portion of all those shell-fish, imported from so far, slips down that insatiable gullet?
Poor wretches, do you not know that your appetites are bigger than your bellies?”