- 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-lat2:98.1-98.8
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Seneca points out the fragility of happiness that depends on external fortune and advocates the importance of building a firm good within oneself. He further recommends a way of life that prepares the mind for unexpected events without being misled by anticipation or anxiety about the future.
Numquam credideris1 felicem quemquam ex felicitate suspensum. Fragilibus innititur, qui adventicio laetus est; exibit gaudium, quod intravit. At illud ex se ortum fidele firmumque est et crescit et ad extremum usque prosequitur; cetera, quorum admiratio est vulgo, in diem bona sunt. "Quid ergo? Non usui ac voluptati esse2 possunt? "Quis negat? Sed ita, si illa ex nobis pendent, non ex illis nos.
Never believe anyone to be happy who is suspended from external fortune. He relies on fragile things who is glad of what is adventitious; the joy that entered will depart. But that joy which has sprung from oneself is faithful and firm, and grows and accompanies one even to the very end; other things, which the crowd admires, are goods of a single day. “What then? Can they not be of use and pleasure?” Who denies it? But only if they depend on us, not we on them.
Omnia, quae fortuna intuetur, ita fructifera ac iucunda fiunt, si qui habet illa, se quoque habet nec in rerum suarum potestate est. Errant enim, Lucili, qui aut boni aliquid nobis aut malum iudicant tribuere fortunam; materiam dat bonorum ac malorum et initia rerum apud nos in malum bonumve exiturarum. valentior enim omni fortuna animus est et in utramque partem ipse res suas ducit beataeque ac miserae vitae sibi causa est.
All things upon which fortune looks become fruitful and pleasant in this way: if he who possesses them also possesses himself, and is not in the power of his own things. For those err, Lucilius, who judge that fortune attributes either something of good or of bad to us; she gives the material of goods and bads, and the beginnings of things that will turn out for bad or good with us. For the mind is more powerful than any fortune, and of itself leads its own affairs in either direction, and is for itself the cause of a happy or a miserable life.
Malus omnia in malum vertit, etiam quae cum specie optimi venerant; rectus atque integer corrigit prava fortunae et dura atque aspera ferendi scientia mollit, idemque et secunda grate excipit modesteque et adversa constanter ac fortiter. Qui licet prudens sit,3 licet exacto faciat cuncta iudicio, licet nihil supra vires suas temptet, non continget illi bonum illud integrum et extra minas positum, nisi certus adversus incerta est.
An evil man turns all things into evil, even those which had come with the appearance of the best; an upright and blameless man corrects the wrongs of fortune and softens hard and rough things by the knowledge of enduring them, and the same man receives prosperous things gratefully and modestly, and adverse things constantly and bravely. Although such a man may be wise, although he may do all things with exact judgment, although he may attempt nothing beyond his strength, that whole good, placed outside of threats, will not fall to his lot unless he is certain against uncertain things.
Sive alios observare volueris—liberius enim inter aliena iudicium est, sive te ipsum favore seposito—et senties hoc et confiteberis, nihil ex his optabilibus et caris utile esse, nisi te contra levitatem casus rerumque casum sequentium instruxeris, nisi illud frequenter et sine querella inter singula damna dixeris: "dis aliter visum est."
Whether you wish to observe others—for judgment is freer among the affairs of others—or yourself with partiality set aside, you will both feel this and confess: nothing of these desirable and dear things is useful unless you equip yourself against the fickleness of chance and of things following chance, unless you say frequently and without complaint among individual losses: “It seemed otherwise to the gods.”
Immo mehercules ut carmen fortius ac iustius petam, quo animum tuum magis fulcias, hoc dicito, quotiens aliquid aliter quam cogitabas evenerit: "di melius.4" Sic composito nihil accidet. Sic autem conponetur, si, quid humanarum rerum varietas possit, cogitaverit, antequam senserit, si et liberos et coniugem et patrimonium sic habuerit tamquam non utique semper habiturus et tamquam non futurus ob hoc miserior, si habere desierit. Calamitosus est animus futuri anxius et ante miserias miser, qui sollicitus est, ut ea, quibus delectatur, ad extremum usque permaneant.
Nay indeed, that I may seek a stronger and more just verse, with which you may more support your mind, say this as often as anything turns out otherwise than you thought: “The gods thought better.” Thus disposed, nothing will happen to him. But he will be so disposed if, before he feels it, he reflects on what the variety of human affairs can do; if he possesses children, wife, and patrimony as one who will not surely possess them always, and as one who will not be more miserable because of this, if he ceases to possess them. Miserable is the mind anxious about the future and unhappy before miseries arrive, which is solicitous that those things in which it delights may remain even to the end.
Nullo enim tempore conquiescet et expectatione venturi praesentia, quibus frui poterat, amittet. In aequo est autem amissae rei miseratio et timor amittendae.
For at no time will it rest, and in expectation of the future it will lose the present things which it could have enjoyed. Moreover, the lamentation of a lost thing and the fear of losing it are on an equal footing.
Nec ideo praecipio tibi neglegentiam. Tu vero metuenda declina. Quidquid consilio prospici potest, prospice. Quodcumque laesurum est, multo ante quam accidat, speculare et averte. In hoc ipsum tibi plurimum conferet fiducia et ad tolerandum omne obfirmata mens. Potest fortunam cavere, qui potest ferre. Certe in tranquillo non tumultuatur. Nihil est nec miserius nec stultius quam praetimere. Quae ista dementia est malum suum antecedere?
Nor do I therefore prescribe negligence to you. Rather, turn aside from things to be feared. Foresee whatever can be foreseen by counsel. Whatever is going to harm, watch for and avert long before it happens. In this very thing, confidence and a mind hardened to endure everything will contribute most to you. He can beware of fortune who can bear it. Certainly, he does not panic in tranquility. Nothing is more miserable or foolish than to fear beforehand. What madness is this, to anticipate one’s own evil?
Denique ut breviter includam quod sentio, et istos satagios ac sibi molestos describam tibi, tam intemperantes in ipsis miseriis quam sunt ante illas. Plus dolet quam necesse est, qui ante dolet quam necesse est; eadem enim infirmitate dolorem non aestimat, qua non exspectat; eadem intemperantia fingit sibi perpetuam felicitatem suam, fingit crescere debere quaecumque contigerunt, non tantum durare; et oblitus huius petauri,5 quo humana iactantur, sibi uni fortuitorum constantiam spondet.
Finally, that I may briefly wrap up what I think, I shall describe to you those busybodies who are troublesome to themselves, as immoderate in their actual miseries as they are before them. He grieves more than is necessary who grieves before it is necessary; for with the same weakness he does not measure grief by which he does not expect it; with the same immoderation he imagines for himself his own perpetual fortune, imagines that whatever has happened ought to grow, not merely endure; and forgetting this acrobat’s springboard, on which human affairs are tossed, he promises to himself alone the constancy of fortuitous things.
- 98.1credideris
Perfect subjunctive second person singular, expressing a strong prohibition or hortatory advice here: "never believe." It functions as a definitive or preventative command, similar to the use of 'ne' with the perfect subjunctive to express present prohibition.
- 98.1usui ac voluptati esse
A variation of the so-called 'double dative' construction, where two datives of purpose or tendency (usui and voluptati) are used. The dative of person affected (e.g., 'nobis' for us) is implied, functioning with 'esse' to mean 'to be of use and pleasure.'
- 98.3licet prudens sit
The conjunction 'licet' (although), originating from an impersonal verb, introduces concessive clauses with subjunctive verbs (sit, faciat, temptet). The main verb of the principal clause is 'non continget'.
- 98.5di melius
An idiomatic elliptical expression in which the verb is omitted from formulaic prayers such as 'di meliora duint' (may the gods grant better things) or 'di melius vertant'. It functions as a hopeful or resigned exclamation: "the gods thought better" or "may the gods turn it for the better."
- 98.8petauri
'Petaurum' refers to an unstable apparatus like a springboard or a swing used in ancient acrobatic performances. Here, it is used in the genitive ('huius petauri') as a metaphor for the ups and downs of human fortune, which constantly tosses humans up and down.