--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are so vain as to set the highest…" description: "\"We are so vain as to set the highest value upon those things to which nature has assigned the lowest place. What can be more coarse and rude in the min..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/seneca-the-younger-219_body_we-are-so-vain-as-to-set-the-highest-val_3154838.jpg" --- # We are so vain as to set the highest value upon those… ![“We are so vain as to set the highest value upon those things to which nature has assigned the lowest place. What can be more coarse and rude in the mind than the precious metals, or more slavish and dirty than the people that dig and work them? And yet they defile our minds more than our bodies…” quote by Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/seneca-the-younger-219_body_we-are-so-vain-as-to-set-the-highest-val_3154838.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/seneca-the-younger-219_body_we-are-so-vain-as-to-set-the-highest-val_3154838.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b88/seneca-the-younger-219_body_we-are-so-vain-as-to-set-the-highest-val_3154838.jpg) > “We are so vain as to set the highest value upon those things to which nature has assigned the lowest place. What can be more coarse and rude in the mind than the precious metals, or more slavish and dirty than the people that dig and work them? And yet they defile our minds more than our bodies, and make the possessor fouler than the artificer of them. Rich men, in fine, are only the greater slaves.” [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often value wealth and status over virtue, making them slaves to material desires that corrupt the mind more than the body. **In simple terms:** Wealth can enslave the mind. Key Takeaway Prioritize inner virtue over external riches. Themes materialism virtue freedom Mood thoughtful critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal finance - career ambition - social media influence - political power Key Concepts Stoicism ethical hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - What truly gives you freedom? - How can you detach self-worth from possessions? A Different Perspective Riches can also enable good deeds if used wisely. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Coarse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coarse/) [Coarse Rude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coarse-rude-5679474/) [Dirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirty/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Greater Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater-slaves-3153931/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Lowest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowest/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Metals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metals/) [Metals Slavish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metals-slavish-5679473/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Possessor Fouler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessor-fouler-5679475/) [Precious metal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precious-metal/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Rich man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-man/) [Rich men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-men/) [Rude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude/) [Rude Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rude-mind-4222565/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Vain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vain/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/man-was-born-free-and-he-is-everywhere-in-chains-those-who-think/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“If you could only speak the devil fair enough, he might save you the cost of the doctor. Such strange lingering echoes of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/if-you-could-only-speak-the-devil-fair-enough-he-might-save-you-the/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There is here a great melting pot in which we must compound a precious metal. That metal is the metal of nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/there-is-here-a-great-melting-pot-in-which-we-must-compound-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“I believe you did not have a happy life. I believe you were cheated. 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