To Hoard or Not to Hoard
If You Are Going To Hoard Anything
Sophia: Friends, let us consider the nature of hoarding — of goods, knowledge, and attention. Christine, you wrote, “…it is a deed of greater charity to give a bit of bread to the poor in the time of high prices and famine, than a whole loaf in the time of fertility and abundance…” How do we know when withholding or giving is most just?
Christine de Pizan: Sophia, timing and context are everything. The value of generosity is measured not by quantity, but by need. To hoard during scarcity is cruelty; to give when it is most urgent is wisdom.
Mao: Yet hoarding knowledge can also be dangerous. To read too many books is harmful, I have observed. Excessive accumulation without application breeds passivity and confusion, rather than insight or action.
... it is a deed of greater charity to give a bit of bread to the poor in the time of high prices and famine, than a whole loaf in the time of fertility and abundance ...
— Christine de Pizan (1364-1440)
Steiner: And yet, Sophia, books are also a treasure. The best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity. The key lies not in the mere collection, but in the digestion and sharing of ideas. Knowledge hoarded is like bread locked away — it loses vitality if not nourishing others.
Sophia: So wisdom in hoarding — whether of bread or books — is in recognizing scarcity and value. It is not accumulation for pride or comfort, but careful stewardship for the benefit of others and oneself.
Christine de Pizan: Precisely. Charity is measured by the heart’s discernment and the immediate needs of those around us.
To read too many books is harmful.
— Mao Zedong (1893-1976)
Mao: And moderation is essential. Hoard too much, and one becomes burdened, stagnant, incapable of action.
Steiner: Yet the mind hungers, Sophia, and books — rightly read and shared — can feed the spirit, enrich conversation, and awaken moral and aesthetic sensitivity.
Books — the best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity.
— George Steiner (1929-2020)
Sophia: Then the principle is clear: hoard only what you can steward wisely, and always with an eye to need and purpose. Bread, books, or wisdom itself — their value lies in their careful, generous, and timely use.
They stand beside a table heaped with bread and books, considering that true wealth is not measured in what is stored, but in what is wisely given and shared.
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