HOW TO COPE

Wisdom for the ages.

The philosopher Boethius (c. 480-524) was the intellectual of his generation. He wrote works on logic, music, and theology, but his enduring fame lies with The Consolation of Philosophy—a document of personal reflection, written while under house arrest, and juxtaposing prose and poetry to argue for the higher good in life: Do not trust in worldly wealth and fame. Embrace adversity as a source of strength. Recognize that your true home lies with your spirit in the heavens, not with your body in a building. These lessons form the heart of the selections translated in this volume. Avoiding the complexities of the poetry (and its sublimity), this book offers a guide to the ill treated. It has as much import today as it did 1,500 years ago, when its author was unjustly imprisoned (and later executed) on trumped-up treason charges. Evil people, Boethius argues, only seem powerful. They draw not from their strength but from their weakness. “For all they can do is evil, which they would have been unable to do at all if they had been able to continue doing good things. And this so-called power they have only shows that they have no power.” While not an explicitly Christian work, the Consolation was absorbed into later medieval and modern views of a God whose omniscience did not prevent humans from exercising free will (often badly). Readers wishing for greater consolation will miss the powerful poems of the original—where the changing of the seasons, the workings of the heavens, and the stories of mythic heroes all give voice to the harmony of creation itself.

A clear introduction to a way of finding faith in cosmic concord during times of strife.