§10.3.23mihi certe iucundus hic magis quam studiorum hortator videtur esse secessus.
To me, at least, this retirement seems to be more agreeable than a promoter of study.
namque illa, quae ipsa delectant, necesse est avocent ab intentione operis destinati.
For those things which themselves delight us must of necessity distract the mind from the concentration on the intended work.
neque enim se bona fide in multa simul intendere animus totum potest, et quocunque respexit, desinit intueri quod propositum erat. §10.3.24quare silvarum amoenitas et praeterlabentia flumina et inspirantes ramis arborum aurae volucrumque cantus et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas ad se trahunt, ut mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videatur cogitationem quam intendere. §10.3.25Demosthenes melius, qui se in locum, ex quo nulla exaudiri vox et ex quo nihil prospici posset, recondebat ne aliud agere mentem cogerent oculi.
For the mind cannot direct itself entirely and in good faith to many things at the same time, and wherever it looks, it ceases to contemplate what had been proposed. Therefore, the beauty of the woods, the rivers flowing past, the breezes blowing through the branches of the trees, the songs of birds, and the very freedom of looking around far and wide, draw us to themselves, so that that pleasure seems to me rather to relax thought than to concentrate it. Demosthenes acted better, who hid himself in a place from which no voice could be heard and from which nothing could be seen, lest his eyes should force his mind to attend to other things.
ideoque lucubrantes silentium noctis et clausum cubiculum et lumen unum velut tectos maxime teneat. §10.3.26sed cum in omni studiorum genere tum in hoc praecipue bona valetudo, quaeque eam maxime praestat, frugalitas, necessaria est, cum tempora ab ipsa rerum natura ad quietem refectionemque nobis data in acerrimum laborem convertimus.
And therefore, let the silence of the night, a closed chamber, and a single light keep those who study by night as if sheltered. But as in every kind of study, so in this especially, good health, and frugality, which most secures it, is necessary, since we convert times given to us by nature itself for rest and recreation into the most intense labor.
cui tamen non plus irrogandum est quam quod somno supererit, haud deerit. §10.3.27obstat enim diligentiae scribendi etiam fatigatio, et abunde, si vacet, lucis spatia sufficiunt; occupatos in noctem necessitas agit.
Yet we must not impose more upon this than what is left from sleep, and it will not be lacking. For fatigue also stands in the way of diligence in writing, and if one is free, the spaces of daylight are abundantly sufficient; necessity drives those who are occupied into the night.
est tamen lucubratio, quotiens ad eam integri ac refecti venimus, optimum secreti genus.
Yet study by night, as often as we come to it fresh and restored, is the best kind of privacy.
§10.3.28sed silentium et secessus et undique liber animus ut sunt maxime optanda, ita non semper possunt contingere, ideoque non statim, si quid obstrepet, abiciendi codices erunt et deplorandus dies; verum incommodis repugnandum et hic faciendus usus, ut omnia quae impedient vincat intentio; quam si tota mente in opus ipsum direxeris, nihil eorum, quae oculis vel auribus incursant, ad animum perveniet. §10.3.29an vero frequenter etiam fortuita hoc cogitatio praestat, ut obvios non videamus et itinere deerremus: non consequemur idem, si et voluerimus? non est indulgendum causis desidiae.
But silence and retirement and a mind free on all sides, though they are especially to be desired, cannot always fall to our lot; and therefore, if anything makes a noise, we must not immediately throw away our books and lament the day; but we must resist inconveniences and establish this habit, that concentration may conquer all things that hinder; and if you direct this with your whole mind to the work itself, nothing of those things which strike the eyes or ears will reach the mind. Or indeed, does not accidental thought frequently bring this about, so that we do not see those we meet and wander from our path? Shall we not achieve the same if we also wish to? We must not indulge the excuses of laziness.
nam si non nisi refecti, non nisi hilares, non nisi omnibus aliis curis vacantes studendum existimarimus, semper erit propter quod nobis ignoscamus. §10.3.30quare in turba, itinere, conviviis etiam faciat sibi cogitatio ipsa secretum.
For if we think we must not study except when refreshed, except when cheerful, except when free from all other cares, there will always be some reason for us to excuse ourselves. Therefore, in a crowd, on a journey, and even at banquets, let thought itself make a privacy for itself.
quid alioqui fiet, cum in medio foro, tot circumstantibus iudiciis, iurgiis, fortuitis etiam clamoribus, erit subito continua oratione dicendum, si particulas quas ceris mandamus nisi in solitudine reperire non possumus? propter quae idem ille tantus amator secreti Demosthenes in litore, in quo se maximo cum sono fluctus illideret, meditans consuescebat contionum fremitus non expavescere. §10.3.31illa quoque minora (sed nihil in studiis parvum est) non sunt transeunda: scribi optime ceris, in quibus facillima est ratio delendi, nisi forte visus infirmior membranarum potius usum exiget, quae ut iuvant aciem, ita crebra relatione, quoad intinguntur, calami morantur manum et cogitationis impetum frangunt. §10.3.32relinquendae autem in utrolibet genere contra erunt vacuae tabellae, in quibus libera adiiciendo sit excursio.
What else will happen, when in the midst of the forum, surrounded by so many trials, disputes, and even accidental clamors, we must suddenly speak in a continuous oration, if we cannot find the small parts which we commit to the wax tablets except in solitude? For which reasons, that same great lover of privacy, Demosthenes, used to practice on the shore, where the wave dashed itself with the greatest sound, meditating so as to accustom himself not to dread the clamors of public assemblies. Those smaller matters too (but nothing in study is small) must not be passed over: that it is best to write on wax tablets, in which the method of erasing is easiest, unless perchance a weaker sight requires rather the use of parchment, which, though it helps the eyes, yet by the frequent turning back of the pen, as long as it is dipped in ink, delays the hand and breaks the impulse of thought. But in either kind, blank tablets should be left on the opposite side, in which there may be free scope for adding.
nam interim pigritiam emendandi angustiae faciunt aut certe novorum interpositione priora confundant.
For sometimes narrow space creates laziness in correcting, or at least confounds the earlier writing by the interposition of new material.
ne latas quidem ultra modum esse ceras velim, expertus iuvenem studiosum alioqui praelongos habuisse sermones, quia illos numero versuum metiebatur, idque vitium, quod frequenti admonitione corrigi non potuerat, mutatis codicibus esse sublatum. §10.3.33debet vacare etiam locus, in quo notentur quae scribentibus solent extra ordinem, id est ex aliis, quam qui sunt in manibus loci, occurrere.
I would not even have the wax tablets excessively wide, having experienced that a young man, otherwise studious, produced excessively long compositions because he measured them by the number of lines, and that this fault, which could not be corrected by frequent admonition, was removed by changing his notebooks. There must also be left a blank space in which to note down those things which are accustomed to occur to writers out of order, that is, from other parts than those in hand.
irrumpunt enim optimi nonnunquam sensus, quos neque inserere oportet neque differre tutum est, quia interim elabuntur, interim memoriae suae intentos ab alia inventione declinant ideoque optime sunt in deposito.
For sometimes the best thoughts break in, which it is neither proper to insert, nor safe to postpone, because in the meantime they escape, or in the meantime, while we are intent on remembering them, they turn us away from other invention; and therefore they are best kept in deposit.