Cover: Standard Ebooks edition cover · CC0 public domain dedication · source
The Consolation of Philosophy
Boethius · c. 480–c. 524
In a cell, condemned, Boethius is visited by Philosophy herself, who talks him out of despair: Fortune's wheel turns for everyone, true happiness cannot be taken away, and providence and free will can be reconciled. Prose alternates with verse, argument with consolation.
- First published
- c. 523–524 CE
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Reading time
- About 3 hours
- Translation
- H. R. James
Reading time: 43,269 words in Project Gutenberg text #14328, read at 238 words per minute.
Written in prison. H. R. James's translation, 1897.
- fortune
- happiness
- providence
- free will
- suffering
Where to read it
- Read free — Standard EbooksPublic domain text, carefully proofread and produced. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — Project GutenbergPublic domain in the USA; check your local law outside it. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
Copyright
- Kenya
- Public domain (translator d. 1931)
- United States
- Public domain (published 1897)
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Questions for discussion
Philosophy says Fortune's gifts were never really his. What in your life is on loan?
Is philosophy a real consolation in the face of injustice, or a way of accepting it?
Compare Boethius in his cell with Marcus Aurelius on his throne. Who had the harder discipline?
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