Boethius' discussion of happiness is carefully crafted and begins with the discussion of Fortune and all the things Boethius won and lost throughout his life at the turn of his wheel . For Boethius, it is the reversal of fortune that seems to lead to his unhappiness. “In all the adversities of fortune, the most miserable fellow was once happy” (61). Lady Philosophy corrects her thinking, however, by showing that the many things that men believe will make them happy can never actually fulfill that promise. Chief among these false paths to happiness are wealth, rank, and power. Speaking of wealth, Lady Philosophy says, "wealth cannot make a man free from want and self-sufficient, though this was the very promise we saw offered" (83). Furthermore, Philosophy emphasizes that the gathering of wealth does not prevent people from taking it away (83). Indeed, by its very nature, wealth seems contradictory. If we gather wealth, we believe we will be self-sufficient and free from want, so we accumulate it; But “the miser always makes men hated” (65). In its acquisition, wealth takes away from others, because it is a limited thing, and only brings hatred and paranoia to those who accumulate it. “[It is] only when money is transferred to others in the exercise of generosity and ceases to be owned that it acquires value” (65). The acquisition of wealth, therefore, is madness and can never guarantee true happiness. To escape the detestation of others, as wealth might generate, men instead seek positions of rank that promise them honor and prestige. Philosophy counters this assumption by asking, “Surely such offices do not have the power to plant virtue in the minds of those who hold them, do they?” (85). A person achieving a rank or office of that co... middle of paper ......tion was not uncommon in Boethius' time and does not appear to be something that will change. Power and beauty, today as then, are fleeting and double-edged swords. Both breed resentment and create a veil of stereotypes around those who possess them. Power is seen as a tool of tyrants and is rarely looked at with respect for long. On the other hand, the idea that looking within is the path to happiness rings with truth and does not require faith in the divine, but only a higher ideal of existence. Although the mythology of the Christian faith disappoints modern-day Western thought, many alternative spiritualities and philosophies promote this rejection of external means of happiness and instead promote the cultivation of internal ones. Works Cited Boethius and Victor Watts. The consolation of philosophy. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1980. Print.