Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich

The words of Epictetus — “Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.” — rise from the ancient world like a flame that still burns in ours. In this teaching, the Stoic philosopher reminds us that wisdom is a greater inheritance than gold, and that the true wealth of a person lies not in possessions, but in the mind trained in virtue, reason, and understanding. For riches without wisdom are like weapons in the hands of children — powerful, yet perilous; dazzling, yet destructive. The unwise rich man is a prisoner of his own comfort, while the instructed soul is free, even in poverty.

Epictetus spoke these words not as a nobleman, but as a slave turned philosopher, one who had tasted both bondage and enlightenment. He had no fortune to leave behind, only truth — yet his teachings have endured for two thousand years, while the wealth of emperors has turned to dust. When he counsels parents to “leave their sons well instructed,” he means that the true legacy of a parent is the formation of character, not the accumulation of treasure. For riches can be lost in a night, but wisdom, once planted, becomes a torch that lights the road of life.

The ancients knew that ignorance is the heaviest poverty, for it blinds the soul to purpose and blinds the heart to peace. Gold may feed the body, but only knowledge and virtue can feed the spirit. Epictetus, steeped in Stoic discipline, believed that wealth makes a man dependent on circumstance, while instruction makes him master of himself. The instructed man can endure misfortune with calm and rebuild when all is lost; the ignorant rich man, stripped of his possessions, collapses into despair, for his identity was made of things that perish. The educated soul, however, draws strength from within — its hope is not in gold, but in wisdom and self-command.

Consider the story of Socrates, who owned no wealth and walked barefoot through Athens, teaching that the unexamined life is not worth living. When he was offered escape from death, he refused, saying that the man who knows what is right should never fear the loss of what is temporary. His legacy was not measured in coin, but in thought — he left behind disciples who carried his wisdom across centuries. Meanwhile, countless wealthy men of his time have vanished from history, their names and riches alike devoured by time. Thus, the philosopher’s teaching lives on as proof that instruction outlasts inheritance.

Epictetus’s words also hold a warning. To leave children only riches without wisdom is to burden them with chains of gold. For they may grow rich in possessions yet poor in purpose, inheriting power they cannot wield and wealth they cannot sustain. Such fortune becomes their downfall, for prosperity without virtue breeds arrogance, and ignorance surrounded by luxury leads to ruin. The parent who teaches virtue and discipline gives a child something that cannot be corrupted by greed — a foundation that endures through feast and famine alike.

In our own age, when the pursuit of wealth often overshadows the pursuit of wisdom, Epictetus’s counsel sounds as revolutionary as it did in Rome. To educate one’s children is not merely to teach them skills, but to awaken their souls — to show them how to think, to question, to act justly, and to hope nobly. The instructed man does not depend on luck, for he carries within him the tools of renewal. His wealth is invisible, but inexhaustible — the wealth of the mind and the peace of self-knowledge.

Let this, then, be the lesson: do not measure your success by what you leave in the bank, but by what you leave in the hearts and minds of those who follow you. Teach your children wisdom, courage, and compassion. Show them how to work, how to endure, how to live honorably and think clearly. For when gold is spent and empires crumble, it is only the instructed spirit that endures. The hopes of the wise are eternal, for they rest not on the shifting sands of fortune, but on the unshakable rock of truth.

Thus, as Epictetus taught, leave behind not riches, but understanding; not jewels, but character. For the treasure of wisdom never rusts, never fades, and can never be stolen. It is the one inheritance that increases when shared — a gift that, once given, enriches both giver and receiver, and makes even the poorest man a king.