Seneca: Devilish Pay
on Sunday, October 10, 2010Seneca Money Quote saying people will be upright and honest if they do well by that stance, but may turn evil if that pays better. Seneca said:
“Some are pious and honest as long as they thrive upon it, but if the devil himself gives better wages, they soon change their party” — Seneca
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Seneca is saying that some people who appear pious and honest will remain so only as long as it benefits them financially or materially.
But if someone or something else, like “the devil himself”, were to offer higher pay or better material rewards, these people would quickly abandon their apparent principles and “change their party” by switching allegiances.
In other words, their morality is not genuine or deeply held, but rather conditional or transactional – it depends on following whatever course of action leads to greater prosperity or advantage, regardless of ethics.
So Seneca is criticizing people whose virtue and integrity are shallow and self-serving, not authentic, by pointing out they would compromise their supposed principles for higher wages or rewards.