Cap. 4, Vers. 7-12
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/15/d/4/q/bon-eccl-c4-v7-12
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#### Art. 2. *On the vanity of avarice, and first on the consideration of it.*

*Considering I found* etc. Above he treated of the vanity of malice; here he treats of the vanity of *avarice;* and first there is set down the *consideration of avarice;* but secondly, since the avaricious man does not wish to have a partner, there is set down, in detestation of him, the *commendation of the society of others,* at: *It is better therefore that there be two* etc.

(Vers. 7. 8.). In the consideration, then, of the vanity of avarice he says: *Considering I found another vanity under the sun,* namely *another,* because the one spoken of above was of malice, but this one of avarice. — Hence he adds: *There is one, and he hath not a second, no son, no brother,* and he ought to be content with little, as being alone, since he does not even wish to have a companion; Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh chapter: « I have found me rest, and now I will eat of my goods alone »; and yet he wholly vanishes away through avarice, in *effect* and in *affection* and in *understanding.* In *effect;* hence he says: *And yet he ceaseth not to labour;* Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-first chapter: « The rich man hath laboured in the gathering together of substance ». In *affection: Neither are his eyes satisfied with riches;* Ecclesiasticus, the fourteenth chapter: « The insatiable eye of the covetous man shall not be satisfied in the portion of iniquity ». *In understanding;* hence he adds: *Neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and defraud my soul of good things?* Psalm thirty-eight: « He storeth up, and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things ». From these things, then, he infers the vanity: *In this also is vanity and a most grievous affliction;* below, the fifth chapter: « Riches kept to the hurt of the owner; for they perish in a most grievous affliction ».

#### Secondly, on the commendation of the society of others.

(Vers. 9. 10. 11. 12.). *It is better therefore that there be two* etc. Here secondly is touched the *commendation of the society of others,* and this in detestation of the solicitude of avarice; on account of which he says: *It is better therefore that there be two,* although the avaricious man prefers the other; and he adds the reason: *For they have the advantage of their mutual society;* and therefore, Luke, the tenth chapter, the Lord « sent the disciples two by two before his face ». — And he shows a threefold advantage: namely in *raising up,* in *preserving,* in *defending.* On account of the *raising up* he says: *If one fall, he shall be supported by the other;* Deuteronomy, the twenty-second chapter: « If thou see thy brother's ass to have fallen in the way, thou shalt not slight it, but shalt lift it up with him ». The solitary man lacks this benefit; therefore he adds: *Woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up,* therefore he is wretched; hence in the Psalm: « Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor ». — As to the advantage in *preserving* he adds: *And if two sleep together, they shall warm one another,* that is, they shall be preserved from the cold; to the Ephesians, the fifth chapter: « No man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it ». The solitary man lacks this benefit; hence he adds: *One,* if he sleep, *how shall he be warmed?*

An example of this: in III Kings, the first chapter, it is said that David was old and was not warmed, and it is added that they sought Abisag the Sunamitess, who slept in the king's bosom and warmed him; by himself he could not be warmed, since he was alone. — As to the advantage in *defending* he adds: *And if anyone prevail against one, two shall withstand him,* and thus it avails for defence; II Kings, the tenth chapter: « If the Syrians prevail against me, thou shalt be a help to me; but if the children of Ammon prevail against thee, I will help thee ». And this indeed he makes manifest by an example: *A threefold cord is hardly broken.* As a cord joined to a cord is stronger, so also is man; Proverbs, the eighteenth chapter: « A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong city ».

*Spiritually* there is noted here a threefold effect of charity, namely mutual *raising up,* mutual *consolation* and mutual *defence.* On account of the *raising up* he says: *If one fall;* to the Galatians, the last chapter: « If a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness »; hence it is said in Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-seventh chapter: « Establish within thyself a heart of good counsel ». — On account of the *consolation* he says: *They shall warm one another;* I Thessalonians, the fifth chapter: « Comfort the feeble-minded »; and in the same place, the second chapter: « We became little ones in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children ». — On account of the *defence* he says: *Two shall withstand;* Isaias, the fiftieth chapter: « Let us stand together; who is my adversary »? — On account of this threefold effect of charity it is called a *threefold cord;* Osee, the eleventh chapter: « I will draw thee with the cords of Adam, with the bands of charity ».

### Questions

I. Here it is asked concerning the solitary life, whether it is to be preferred to society. That it is, it seems:

1. Because it is said in Lamentations, the third chapter, of the good youth: *He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace:* therefore it is good to be alone.

2. Likewise, Bernard says: « As often as I have been among men, I have come back less a man »: therefore it is not good to be among men.

3. Likewise, he who is in society must needs be solicitous how he may conform himself to the society; but the Apostle says, in I Corinthians, the seventh chapter, that it is good not to marry, so as to avoid the solicitude of pleasing a wife: therefore likewise it is good to flee all society.

**Contra:** 1. Genesis, the second chapter: *It is not good for man to be alone:* therefore solitude is blameworthy, and by the opposite society is praiseworthy.

2. Likewise, Matthew, the eighteenth chapter: *Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them;* he does not say: where there is *one,* but where there are *two or three:* therefore life in a congregation is better than the solitary life.

3. Likewise, this is proved by this text, since society *supports, warms* and *defends,* which are three goods of which the solitary are deprived.

I respond: it must be said that solitariness is threefold: one through *want of love,* as the avaricious man does not wish to have a partner in riches, nor the envious man in goods, nor the proud man in great things; and this solitude is altogether evil. Another solitude is through *lack of consolation,* as is said in the Psalm: *I am alone and poor,* and this is wretched. There is also another solitude through the *rest of contemplation,* and this is praiseworthy and honourable. — Likewise society is in a threefold mode: one, namely, *troubling and hindering,* as the society of the wicked; one *needing aid and solace,* as the society of wives and of the infirm; and one *helping and furthering,* as the society of the perfect. The first is *to be fled,* the second *to be tolerated,* but the third *to be sought;* and this is in religion. When, therefore, Scripture commends society, it is understood of this; and this is not repugnant to the solitude of contemplation, since Bernard, on the Canticle: « Among many a man can be wholly alone, if he flee curiosity ». — And thus the objections are clear.

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