the true honour of things; we become alternately merchants and merchandise, and we ask, not what a thing truly is, but what it costs.” –Seneca, c. 4 BC–65 AD “To you, all you have seems small: to me, all I have seems great. Your desire is insatiable, mine is satisfied. See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, and striving to pull out the nuts and figs it contains: if they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out again, and then they fall to tears. Let go a few of them, and then you can draw out the rest!’ You, too, let your desire go! Covet not many things, and you will obtain.” –Epictetus, 55–135 AD “Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.” –Plato, c. 427 BC–c. 347 BC “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” –Marcus Aurelius, 121–180 AD