"Although it is true that things which are subject to fortune can hardly be counted on, nevertheless, the last day of a man’s life is a kind of death to such fortune as he still has. What difference does it make, then, whether you desert her by dying or she you by leaving?" (Book II, Prose 3, p. 22)
Simply said, you can’t take it with you. However, it doesn’t really address the immediacy of Boethius’ problem. Sure, when he dies he won’t need or care about his current condition of loss and imprisonment. But what of now? What of the living?
One must have, I would think, an absolute firm belief in an afterlife to forego the pleasures, to not mind the setbacks. Then too, if the bad luck must not be worried over, then the good should neither be taken with great joy.
Here however is where Philosophy may be leading: Transitory circumstances are not to be given the importance. Happiness should be hung upon a more stable post.
We’ll see.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
Cool. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.