The hospital and public library of Brattleboro Vermont were shocked to receive their largest donations ever in 2015 — a $5 million bequest from Ronald Read, a former janitor and widower who drove a second-hand beater, chopped his own firewood, and wore worn-out clothes.
His riches resulted not from a large income, but from frugality and steady investment in blue-chip stocks.
Read would perhaps agree with Seneca that “Nature demands but little, and the wise man suits his needs to nature.”
But frugality also gives you something else — the flexibility to give back and exercise the virtue of justice. After dying at age 92, Read left money to his stepchildren, caregivers, and two institutions he cared about — the library and hospital.
Seneca suggested the virtuous try to give some of their resources “either to the good or those to whom he will be able to make good.”
What that means is entirely up to you.
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