- Source
- Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, Vol 1-3. Gummere, Richard Mott, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1917-1925.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi015.humanitext-lat2:61.1-61.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
Seneca describes his own practice of abandoning past desires and living each day as an entire life, encouraging Lucilius to prepare to accept death willingly rather than as an unwilling necessity.
Desinamus, quod voluimus, velle. Ego certe id ago: senex ea desii velle quae puer volui. In hoc unum eunt dies, in hoc noctes, hoc opus meum est, haec cogitatio: inponere veteribus malis finem. Id ago, ut mihi instar totius vitae1 dies sit. Nec mehercules tamquam ultimum rapio, sed sic illum aspicio, tamquam esse vel ultimus possit.
Let us cease to wish for what we once wished. I certainly busy myself with this: as an old man I have ceased to wish for those things which I wished for as a boy. Towards this one thing my days go, towards this my nights; this is my work, this is my thought: to put an end to my long-standing evils. I so act that to me each day is like an entire life. And, by Hercules, I do not snatch at it as if it were my last, but I look upon it in such a way as if it could indeed be the last.
Hoc animo tibi hanc epistulam scribo, tamquam me cum maxime scribentem2 mors evocatura sit. Paratus exire sum et ideo fruar vita, quia quam diu futurum hoc sit, non nimis pendeo. Ante senectutem curavi, ut bene viverem, in senectute, ut bene moriar; bene autem mori est libenter mori. Da operam, ne quid umquam invitus facias.
With this mind I write this letter to you, as if death were about to summon me at the very moment of my writing. I am ready to depart, and for that reason I shall enjoy life, because I do not depend too much on how long this will last. Before old age I made it my care to live well; in old age, to die well; but to die well is to die willingly. Take care that you never do anything against your will.
Quicquid necesse futurum est repugnanti, volenti necessitas non est. Ita dico: qui imperia libens excipit, partem acerbissimam servitutis effugit, facere quod nolit.3 Non qui iussus aliquid facit, miser est, set qui invitus facit. Itaque sic animum conponamus, ut quicquid res exiget, id velimus et in primis ut finem nostri sine tristitia cogitemus.
Whatever is going to be necessary for the one who resists, is not a necessity for the one who is willing. I mean this: he who willingly accepts commands escapes the bitterest part of servitude, which is doing what he does not wish to do. It is not the one who does something because he is ordered who is wretched, but the one who does it against his will. Therefore, let us so prepare our mind that we may wish for whatever circumstance demands, and especially that we may think of our own end without sadness.
Ante ad mortem quam ad vitam praeparandi sumus. Satis instructa vita est, sed nos in instrumenta eius avidi sumus; deesse aliquid nobis videtur et semper videbitur. Ut satis vixerimus,4 nec anni nec dies faciunt, sed animus. Vixi, Lucili carissime, quantum satis erat; mortem plenus exspecto. VALE.
We must be prepared for death before we are prepared for life. Life is sufficiently equipped, but we are greedy for its equipment; something seems to us to be lacking, and always will seem so. That we have lived enough is brought about neither by years nor by days, but by the mind. I have lived, my dearest Lucilius, as much as was enough; full, I await death. FAREWELL.
- 61.1instar totius vitae
The indeclinable noun 'instar' is used with the genitive 'totius vitae' to mean 'equivalent to' or 'the likeness of,' functioning here as the predicate of the copula 'sit.'
- 61.2cum maxime scribentem
The adverbial phrase 'cum maxime' means 'at this very moment' or 'especially now,' modifying the present participle 'scribentem' to emphasize the immediacy of the moment when death might arrive.
- 61.3facere quod nolit
The infinitive phrase 'facere...' functions as an appositive, explaining the specific content of the 'bitterest part of servitude' (partem acerbissimam) mentioned previously.
- 61.4Ut satis vixerimus
This is an inversion of the 'facere ut...' construction (to bring about that...), where the 'ut' clause introducing the noun clause is placed before the subjects of the main clause ('nec anni nec dies').