The Proper Time to Eat

‘What is the proper time to eat?’, someone asks Diogenes the Cynic. ‘When rich, whenever you want; when poor, whenever you can.’

A pithy phrase, apparently saying little. It is a seed. Perhaps you might remember it and reflect on it from time to time. At first glance it conveys a certain sense of living naturally: eat when hungry, sleep when tired, etc. Do as your nature wills. But perhaps there’s also a sense that the poor are unfortunate because they must do what they must and cannot do what they will.

But isn’t Diogenes famous for being poor, and for eating in the time and place that is not proper? In the marketplace, for example. He eats there because it was there that he was hungry. He eats when he wants. Is he rich? Not materially. He hasn’t a coin to his name. What is the lesson here?

What if we understand wealth to be spiritual and not material? This is a familiar metaphor. When you are spiritually rich, you can get soul-sustenance whenever you want, because you have it always to hand, in yourself, in your cultivated philosophical wisdom. And because of that wisdom, you have trained yourself to be content with very little. You have self-discipline. In full command of yourself, you can eat or not eat as you choose, ‘whenever you want’. But when you are spiritually poor, having no self-control, you must take whatever you can whenever you can because you are starved and have no choice. You are a slave to your appetites and must do as they command. And who is more free: the one who can eat whenever they want, or the one who must eat whenever they can? Which is richer?

And doesn’t the answer to this question turn the world upside down? The materially rich can eat whatever and whenever they want, and because of this they become enslaved to their appetites, never learning how to go without. They live in fear of not getting what they want and become insatiable, and this insatiable desire drives them to chase more and more luxury. By contrast, the materially poor cannot eat whatever and whenever they want and so they learn how to moderate their desires; if they are wise and take the lessons of philosophy then they learn how to be content with this and come to see the value in it. It is admirable to live within your means, self-reliant and content with little, but there is nothing admirable about needing outrageous luxury in order to be happy. When you don’t have the material means to satisfy every desire, you learn that you can go without. This can be a good lesson: it can show you the real value of things.

The poor philosopher is in command of themselves, and so gains spiritual freedom in their material poverty; but the rich person’s material wealth buys them only spiritual chains and a lifetime of fear. Who is better off? And what does this answer teach you about what is really valuable in life: spiritual wealth or material wealth? To be freely in command of yourself or a slave to your appetites? Which is the richer?

Read more: Think Well, Live Well: A Free Introduction to Philosophy