And since they do not know exactly who they are, they must regard all men as such and contribute proportionally to preserving their will, their power, and their number. An infinite number of ancient and modern examples will make them know that all goods of whatever nature are only dust without this will, without this power, and without this number; and since they have a greater quantity of goods and want to use them, they are more (298) obliged than others to preserve this will, this power, and this number, and therefore, they have more needs and are poorer than the others. This instruction and this nourishment,[^1] which is so beneficial to the minds of the children of the great and the rich, will make them look inside themselves in order to really know themselves and will make them see that they are not as rich as they think they are. They[^2] will suppress this pride and these impetuous passions that arise in their hearts from possessing a lot of goods when they see that the will, the power, and the number of those that support them do not depend on their wanton whim and that they are by no means the absolute masters. On the contrary, often only one of the contributors[^3] to their wealth (299) can make the others revolt and reduce all their imaginary wealth to ashes and dust, according to what I said in the previous chapter.
The children of the poor, who are greater in number than those of the rich, will also need the solid knowledge of their natural poverty, which is not so much in the possessing of a too small quantity of goods than in only being able to satisfy their desires with the help of others. In this way, they will know that the difference between them and the rich is not as great as they imagine and that in the end they are not further from true wealth than the so-called rich, especially those who believe that their goods (300) will always save them and that they will not need to cultivate by steady conduct the will of those who give the value and the price to their goods. Because the children of the poor are not subject to this ridiculous pride that the possession of goods inspires and are limited to the most necessary things that nature requires, they are more suited than the rich to becoming good subjects and worthy contributors[^4] to the state’s wealth through a sound instruction in what their poverty consists of. By realizing that the goods of the rich are not a sure way to obtain all the needs of life and that without the will, without the power, and without a number of those who must satisfy their desires, all these goods are only dust, they will see that the way (301) is open to them as well as to the rich to reconcile the will, to help the power, and to attract a number of those who can make them rich and happy.
Previous Page