Poverty and begging

Meaning

Poverty is an obstacle to study that the art is said to remove by providing food and livelihood. The philosophers need not flatter wealthy patrons, sell the secret for money or endure contempt for begging. The passage therefore supplies a positive reason for material sufficiency within a work that condemns greed. Its aim is freedom to pursue wisdom, not unlimited wealth for display. The English retains the distinction between poverty hindering study and begging exposing the philosopher to ridicule. These are reported benefits of the art, not independently verified economic histories of the named philosophers.