18.
Nature was not so hostile to man that, when she gave all the other animals an easy rôle in life, she made it impossible for him alone to live without all these artifices.
None of these was imposed upon us by her; none of them had to be painfully sought out that our lives might be prolonged.
All things were ready for us at our birth; it is we that have made everything difficult for ourselves, through our disdain for what is easy.
Houses, shelter, creature comforts, food, and all that has now become the source of vast trouble, were ready at hand, free to all, and obtainable for trifling pains.
For the limit everywhere corresponded to the need; it is we that have made all those things valuable, we that have made them admired, we that have caused them to be sought for by extensive and manifold devices.
Book: Moral Letters Vol II
Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.
Author: Seneca
Chapter: On the part played by philosophy in the progress of man
Location: Chapter 90, Section 18
Content:
18.
Nature was not so hostile to man that, when she gave all the other animals an easy rôle in life, she made it impossible for him alone to live without all these artifices.
None of these was imposed upon us by her; none of them had to be painfully sought out that our lives might be prolonged.
All things were ready for us at our birth; it is we that have made everything difficult for ourselves, through our disdain for what is easy.
Houses, shelter, creature comforts, food, and all that has now become the source of vast trouble, were ready at hand, free to all, and obtainable for trifling pains.
For the limit everywhere corresponded to the need; it is we that have made all those things valuable, we that have made them admired, we that have caused them to be sought for by extensive and manifold devices.