Evils of Self-Satisfaction and True Joy of the Wise — Seneca the Younger, Moral Letters to Lucilius 59.10–59.18, Latin & English

§59.10

Quemadmodum autem potest aliquis, quantum satis sit, adversus vitia discere, qui quantum a vitiis vacat,¹ discit? Nemo nostrum in altum descendit. Summa tantum decerpsimus et exiguum temporis impendisse philosophiae satis abundeque occupatis fuit.

But how can anyone learn against vices as much as is sufficient, who learns only as much as he is free from vices? None of us descends into the deep. We have only plucked the surface, and to us who are exceedingly occupied, it has been enough and more than enough to have spent a tiny bit of time on philosophy.

§59.11

Illud praecipue impedit, quod cito nobis placemus; si invenimus, qui nos bonos viros dicat, qui prudentes, qui sanctos, adgnoscimus. Non sumus modica laudatione contenti; quicquid in nos adulatio sine pudore congessit, tamquam debitum prendimus. Optimos nos esse, sapientissimos adfirmantibus adsentimur, cum sciamus illos saepe multa mentiri. Adeoque indulgemus nobis, ut laudari velimus in id, cui contraria cum maxime facimus. Mitissimum ille se in ipsis suppliciis audit,² in rapinis liberalissimum, in ebrietatibus ac libidinibus temperantissimum. Sequitur itaque, ut ideo mutari nolimus, quia nos optimos esse credimus.

This especially hinders us, that we quickly please ourselves; if we find someone who calls us good men, prudent, holy, we acknowledge it. We are not content with a moderate praise; whatever flattery has shamelessly heaped upon us, we take as our due. We agree with those who affirm that we are the best, the wisest, although we know that they often lie about many things. And we so far indulge ourselves that we wish to be praised for that in which we are doing the very opposite at this very moment. That man hears himself called gentlest in the midst of executions, most liberal in the midst of plunder, most temperate in the midst of drunkenness and lusts. It follows, therefore, that we do not wish to be changed for this reason, because we believe that we are already the best.

§59.12

Alexander cum iam in India vagaretur et gentes ne finitimis quidem satis notas bello vastaret, in obsidione cuiusdam urbis, dum circumit muros et inbecillissima moenium quaerit, sagitta ictus diu persedere et incepta agere perseveravit. Deinde cum represso sanguine sicci vulneris dolor cresceret et crus suspensum equo paulatim optorpuisset, coactus absistere "Omnes," inquit, "iurant esse me Iovis filium, sed vulnus hoc hominem esse me clamat."

Alexander, when he was already wandering in India and laying waste in war nations not even sufficiently known to their neighbors, during the siege of a certain city, while he was going around the walls and looking for the weakest part of the fortifications, having been struck by an arrow, persisted for a long time in remaining seated on his horse and carrying on what he had begun. Then, when the blood had been stanched and the pain of the dry wound increased, and his leg, hanging down from the horse, had gradually grown numb, being forced to withdraw, he said: “All men swear that I am the son of Jupiter, but this wound cries out that I am a human.”

§59.13

Idem nos faciamus. Pro sua quemque portione adulatio infatuat. Dicamus: "Vos quidem dicitis me prudentem esse, ego autem video, quam multa inutilia concupiscam, nocitura optem. Ne hoc quidem intellego, quod animalibus satietas monstrat, quis cibo debeat esse, quis potioni modus. Quantum capiam adhuc nescio."

Let us do the same. Flattery infatuates everyone according to his own portion. Let us say: “You indeed say that I am prudent, but I see how many useless things I covet, how many harmful things I wish for. I do not even understand this, which satiety shows to animals: what measure there should be to food, what to drink. I do not yet know how much I can contain.”

§59.14

Iam docebo, quemadmodum intellegas te non esse sapientem. Sapiens ille plenus est gaudio, hilaris et placidus, inconcussus; cum dis ex pari vivit. Nunc ipse te consule; si numquam maestus es, nulla spes animum tuum futuri exspectatione sollicitat, si per dies noctesque par et aequalis animi tenor erecti et placentis sibi est, pervenisti ad humani boni summam. Sed si adpetis voluptates et undique et omnes, scito tantum tibi ex sapientia, quantum ex gaudio deesse. Ad hoc cupis pervenire, sed erras, qui inter divitias illuc venturum esse te speras, inter honores, id est, gaudium inter sollicitudines quaeris. Ista, quae sic petis tamquam datura laetitiam ac voluptatem, causae dolorum sunt.

Now I will teach you how you may understand that you are not wise. That wise man is full of joy, cheerful and calm, unshaken; he lives on an equal footing with the gods. Now consult yourself; if you are never sad, if no hope solicits your mind with the expectation of the future, if through days and nights the even and equal tenor of a mind erect and pleasing itself remains, you have reached the summit of human good. But if you seek pleasures from every side and all of them, know that you lack as much of wisdom as you lack of joy. You wish to reach this point, but you err, who hope to arrive there in the midst of riches, in the midst of honors, that is, you seek joy in the midst of anxieties. Those things, which you thus seek as if they would give gladness and pleasure, are causes of pains.

§59.15

Omnes, inquam, illi tendunt ad gaudium, sed unde stabile magnumque consequantur, ignorant. Ille ex conviviis et luxuria, ille ex ambitione et circumfusa clientium turba, ille ex amica, alius ex studiorum liberalium vana ostentatione et nihil sanantibus litteris; omnes istos oblectamenta fallacia et brevia decipiunt, sicut ebrietas, quae unius horae hilarem insaniam longi temporis taedio pensat, sicut plausus et adclamationis secundae favor, qui magna sollicitudine et partus est et expiandus.³

All of them, I say, stretch toward joy, but they are ignorant of whence they may obtain a stable and great one. One seeks it from banquets and luxury, another from ambition and a surrounding crowd of clients, another from a mistress, another from a vain display of liberal studies and literature that heals nothing; deceptive and brief amusements deceive all these, just like drunkenness, which compensates for a single hour of cheerful madness with a long time of weariness, and just like the favor of applause and favorable acclamation, which is both acquired and must be paid for with great anxiety.

§59.16

Hoc ergo cogita, hunc esse sapientiae effectum, gaudii aequalitatem. Talis est sapientis animus, qualis mundus super lunam; semper illic serenum est. Habes ergo et quare velis sapiens esse, si numquam sine gaudio est. Gaudium hoc non nascitur nisi ex virtutum conscientia.

Think of this, therefore, that this is the effect of wisdom: the evenness of joy. Such is the mind of the wise man, as is the world above the moon; it is always serene there. You have therefore also a reason why you should wish to be wise, if he is never without joy. This joy is not born except from the consciousness of virtues.

§59.17

Non potest gaudere, nisi fortis, nisi iustus, nisi temperans. "Quid ergo? "inquis, "Stulti ac mali non gaudent?" Non magis quam praedam nancti leones. Cum fatigaverunt se vino ac libidinibus, cum illos nox inter vitia defecit,⁴ cum voluptates angusto corpori ultra quam capiebat ingestae suppurare coeperunt, tunc exclamant miseri Vergilianum illum versum: "Namque ut supremam falsa inter gaudia noctem Egerimus, nosti."

He cannot rejoice, unless he is brave, unless he is just, unless he is temperate. “What then?” you say, “Do the foolish and the evil not rejoice?” No more than lions that have gotten prey. When they have exhausted themselves with wine and lusts, when night has worn them out in their vices, when pleasures, crammed into a narrow body beyond what it could contain, have begun to fester, then those miserable ones cry out that Vergil’s verse: “For how we spent our last night among false joys, You know.”

§59.18

Omnem luxuriosi noctem inter falsa gaudia et quidem tamquam supremam agunt; illud gaudium, quod deos deorumque aemulos sequitur, non interrumpitur, non desinit; desineret, si sumptum esset aliunde. Quia non est alieni muneris, ne arbitrii quidem alieni est.⁵ Quod non dedit fortuna, non eripit. VALE.

The luxurious spend every night among false joys, and indeed as if it were their last; that joy which follows the gods and those who emulate the gods is not interrupted, does not cease; it would cease if it were taken from elsewhere. Because it is not of another’s gift, it is not even subject to another’s will. What fortune did not give, she does not snatch away. FAREWELL.

Syntax notes5 items

59.10quantum a vitiis vacat
A relative clause introduced by the adverbial accusative of measure quantum. The subject of vacat is the implicit antecedent of qui (i.e., "the person who"), meaning "to the extent that he is free from vices."
59.11Mitissimum ille se in ipsis suppliciis audit
The verb audire is used here with a double accusative (se and the superlative adjective mitissimum) in the sense of "to hear oneself called" or "to have the reputation of being..." (analogous to the Greek usage of ἀκούω).
59.15expiandus
The gerundive (future passive participle) expressing necessity, meaning "to be paid for" or "atoned for." It highlights that public applause, though briefly pleasing, demands a heavy price in subsequent anxiety.
59.17defecit
The verb deficere here means "to fail" or "to leave exhausted." With nox as the subject, it implies that the night left them spent and exhausted in the midst of their vices, or came to an end while they were still wallowing in them.
59.18ne arbitrii quidem alieni est
The phrase arbitrii... alieni is a genitive of property or characteristic used predicatively, meaning "it is not even subject to another's judgment/will."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi015.humanitext-lat2:59.10-59.18