§1.1Ita fac, mi Lucili; vindica te tibi, et tempus, quod adhuc aut auferebatur aut subripiebatur aut excidebat, collige et serva.
Do so, my Lucilius; claim yourself for yourself, and collect and guard the time which until now was either being taken away, or stolen, or slipping away.
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt.
Persuade yourself that this is just as I write: some times are snatched from us, some are subtly withdrawn, some flow away.
Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit.
Yet the most shameful loss is that which happens through negligence.
Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.
And if you are willing to pay attention, the greatest part of life slips away from those acting badly, a large part from those doing nothing, and the entire life from those doing something else.
§1.2Quem mihi dabis, qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat, qui diem aestimet, qui intellegat se cotidie mori? In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus; magna pars eius iam praeterit.
Whom will you show me who puts any price on time, who values a day, who understands that he dies daily? For in this we are mistaken, that we look forward to death; a great part of it has already passed.
Quicquid aetatis retro est, mors tenet.
Whatever of our lifetime is behind us, death holds.
Fac ergo, mi Lucili, quod facere te scribis, omnes horas conplectere.
Therefore, do, my Lucilius, what you write that you are doing: embrace every hour.
Sic fiet, ut minus ex crastino pendeas, si hodierno manum inieceris.
Thus it will happen that you will depend less on tomorrow, if you lay hands on today.
Dum differtur, vita transcurrit.
While it is being deferred, life rushes past.
§1.3Omnia, Lucili, aliena sunt, tempus tantum nostrum est.
Everything, Lucilius, belongs to others; time alone is ours.
In huius rei unius fugacis ac lubricae possessionem natura nos misit, ex qua expellit quicumque vult.
Nature has put us into possession of this single, fleeting and slippery thing, from which anyone who wishes expels us.
Et tanta stultitia mortalium est, ut quae minima et vilissima sunt, certe reparabilia, imputari sibi, cum impetravere, patiantur; nemo se iudicet quicquam debere, qui tempus accepit, cum interim hoc unum est, quod ne gratus quidem potest reddere.
And so great is the folly of mortals that they allow things which are most insignificant and cheap, and certainly replaceable, to be charged to them when they have obtained them; yet no one who has received time judges himself to owe anything, whereas in the meantime this is the only thing which not even a grateful person can return.
§1.4Interrogabis fortasse, quid ego faciam, qui tibi ista praecipio.
Perhaps you will ask what I myself am doing, I who prescribe these things to you.
Fatebor ingenue: quod apud luxuriosum sed diligentem evenit, ratio mihi constat inpensae.
I will confess candidly: what happens in the case of a luxurious but careful person, my account of expense balances.
Non possum me dicere nihil perdere, sed quid perdam et quare et quemadmodum, dicam; causas paupertatis meae reddam, sed evenit mihi, quod plerisque non suo vitio ad inopiam redactis: omnes ignoscunt, nemo succurrit.
I cannot say that I lose nothing, but I will tell what I am losing, and why, and how; I will render the causes of my poverty, but it happens to me as it does to most people who have been reduced to want through no fault of their own: everyone forgives, no one helps.
§1.5Quid ergo est? Non puto pauperem, cui quantulumcumque superest, sat est.
What is it then? I do not consider a person poor for whom however little remains is enough.
Tu tamen malo serves tua, et bono tempore incipies.
Yet I prefer that you keep your own, and you will begin in good time.
Nam ut visum est maioribus nostris, sera parsimonia in fundo est.
For as it seemed to our ancestors, thrift is too late at the bottom of the jar.
Non enim tantum minimum in imo, sed pessimum remanet.
For not only does the smallest amount remain at the bottom, but the worst.
VALE.
FAREWELL.