Book 3, Chapter 6 | The Consolation of Philosophy

Chapter Summary

Fourthly, fame cannot give perfect happiness since it is sometimes wrongly given. But even if fame is deserved, it cannot add to one’s happiness, since a wise person measures himself by what he knows of himself, not by what others think of him. And if fame is inherently desirable, lack of fame must be shameful—and yet no one is famous everywhere in the entire world. Noble birth is empty, since its praise belongs to one’s progenitor, not one’s self.

About The Consolation of Philosophy

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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