“It is foolish to think that wealth or abundance — or even moderate means — would be advantageous or possibly reassuring. The rich worry even more than the poor and the impoverished.”

– St. Ambrose of Optina

You get to hear part of this sentiment from many sources, including non-religious ones. Saying that rich people have no peace is a common thought and may even be used to try to produce the kind of false reassurance that St. Ambrose talks about. But the saint goes beyond that, extending the imprecation to a condition that the rest of us would know — saying that even being lulled into a moderate sense of security by moderate wealth is foolishness. It makes sense that the things that attach us to this world can be the chains that bind us. We just don’t always realize when we’re being chained.