Consolation Of Philosophy

Philosophy continues to discuss the characteristics of fortune. People have no right to complain about bad fortune since it is in the very nature of fortune to change constantly. By the same token, a person who has suffered bad fortune may plausibly expect his fortune to change to good again. Philosophy cites examples from Greek history and literature (e.g., the Iliad) of people who experienced sudden changes of fortune.

In verse, Philosophy admonishes that no matter how much good fortune human beings enjoy, they will always be greedy for more things: “No reins will serve to hold in check / The headlong course of appetite [..] .No man is rich who shakes and groans / Convinced that he needs more” (26). 

Boethius replies that while she is speaking, Philosophy's arguments are convincing, but as soon as she stops, he sinks again into melancholy. Philosophy replies that what she has said thus far is not meant as a cure, but only as a preparatory treatment to soothe his soul.

Philosophy reminds Boethius of the blessings he has enjoyed in his career, from his happy upbringing by his foster father to his success in oratory and politics. In tallying up everything that has happened to him, Philosophy says, Boethius will find that this is actually the first time fortune has been unfavorable to him. And furthermore, the misery he is now suffering is also passing away.

In verse, Philosophy underlines the point that human affairs are in constant flux.

Boethius concedes that he achieved rapid success in his career, but this only makes his sadness greater because of the loss of those blessings. Philosophy proceeds to speak of the blessings of his personal life, including his foster father and his wife and children—“anchors” that will help him weather his present storms. Philosophy scolds Boethius for complaining, reminding him that good and bad fortune are always mixed together, as no one is completely happy in every respect: “So nothing is miserable except when you think it so, and vice versa, all luck is good luck to the man who bears it with equanimity” (31).

True and lasting happiness does not lie in external things, but within oneself. One has no more precious possession than one's own self, and this is something that fortune cannot take away. In verse, Philosophy urges Boethius to build his life upon solid, imperishable things, not on the shifting sands of chance. 

Philosophy sees that her reasoning is beginning to have its effect on Boethius and thus she may now attempt a stronger cure. She proceeds to demonstrate that the gifts fortune offers are transitory and short-lived. Riches are a resource that diminishes with use, impoverishing the spender. Furthermore, the more one has, the more carefully one needs to guard one's possessions. Yet these things do not bring true happiness because they are external to man. Unlike the other animals, who are content with what they have, man seeks to “adorn his superior nature with inferior objects” (35). In doing so, he does great wrong to God, who created man in his image.

In verse, Philosophy describes the innocent happiness of Paradise, when man was content with the goods of nature and uncorrupted by the “passion to possess” (37). 

The conversation turns to the exercise of power in high office. Philosophy argues that it is virtue that dignifies the holders of high office and not the other way around. That power is not intrinsically good is clearly seen from the fact that wicked people often hold high office. The same is true of all things conferred on human beings by fortune; they are morally neutral and only become good or evil according to the character of the person.

Furthermore, power is illusory because anything a powerful person does to one of his subjects can easily be done to him in turn: “Can you, then consider it power at all, when a man cannot ensure that someone does not inflict on him what he can inflict on others?” (39). In verse, Philosophy cites the murderous reign of Nero as an example of a wicked man holding great power. 

Boethius insists that he followed a political career not out of worldly ambition but to seek fame for virtue. Philosophy replies that fame is “puny and insubstantial” (41) when compared against the narrow confines of the known world and the vastness of eternity. She asserts that human beings practice virtue with an eye to boosting their reputation. Yet all fame and reputation are dissolved by death, and even renown after death will be short-lived.  

Philosophy admits that there are times when fortune helps rather than deceives man. Being struck with bad fortune causes a person to take stock of himself, recognize how fragile happiness is, and turn toward a more moral way of life. Bad fortune can also bring evil to the light and reveal who one's true friends are: “Good fortune deceives, but bad fortune enlightens” (44). Even bad fortune can be a blessing in disguise.

In verse, Philosophy praises the Love of God that rules the universe and wishes that human beings would follow this same love.