Practicability of Seneca's advice to live simply

Despite being himself wealthy, Seneca wrote extensively about the advantages of living simply. He came up with dozens of examples that support his advice, but is Seneca someone we can trust? And is it workable to put his advice into practice in our century?In his essay “On the Shortness of Life,” Seneca recounts the story of a wealthy man who had devoted his life to working and investing. The man had devoted decades to accumulating his fortune, working every day, with little spare time for sports, hobbies or anything else.According to Seneca, that wealthy man had wasted his life. He had been working too much, leaving no time for enjoyment or happiness. The wealthy man, says Seneca, was complaining that “he had never truly lived.”Seneca reminds us that “life is short” and that we should adopt a simple lifestyle that enables us to live happily. He strongly condemns the pursuit of excessive wealth, and urges us to use our time wisely.I regard Seneca’s advice as contradictory and unrealistic. In the case of the wealthy man, what was Seneca recommending exactly? Would the man be happier if he had lived in poverty all his life? Of course not, I hasten to answer.Seneca’s admonishment against “time-wasting activities” is a rhetorical device. He does not explain why we should regard work as a waste of time.In fact, Seneca himself did not heed his own advice because he devoted decades to multiplying the assets he had inherited from his parents.He worked assiduously and went from millionaire to multimillionaire, and eventually became one of the wealthiest men in the Roman Empire. If such a person advises us to embrace a simple, modest lifestyle, should we believe his words?Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/practicability-of-senecas-advice-to-live-simply/