§108.1Id, de quo quaeris, ex his est, quae scire tantum eo, ut scias, pertinet.
That about which you ask is of those things which it pertains to know only for this purpose, that you may know.
Sed nihilominus, quia pertinet, properas nec vis exspectare libros, quos cum maxime ordino continentes totam moralem philosophiae partem.
But nevertheless, because it pertains, you are in a hurry and do not wish to wait for the books which I am just now arranging, containing the entire moral part of philosophy.
Statim expediam, illud tamen prius scribam, quemadmodum tibi ista cupiditas discendi, qua flagrare te video, digerenda sit, ne ipsa se inpediat.
I shall explain it immediately; however, I shall first write how that desire of yours for learning, with which I see you burning, should be managed, lest it hinder itself.
§108.2Nec passim carpenda sunt nec avide invadenda universa; per partes pervenietur ad totum.
Universal things are neither to be plucked here and there nor to be attacked greedily; we shall arrive at the whole through parts.
Aptari onus viribus debet nec plus occupari quam cui sufficere possimus.
The load must be fitted to our strength, and we must not undertake more than we can be sufficient for.
Non quantum vis, sed quantum capis, hauriendum est.
Not as much as you wish, but as much as you can contain, must be drawn.
Bonum tantum habe animum; capies quantum voles.
Only have a good mind; you will contain as much as you wish.
Quo plus recipit animus, hoc se magis laxat.
The more the mind receives, the more it expands itself.
§108.3Haec nobis praecipere Attalum memini, cum scholam eius opsideremus et primi veniremus et novissimi exiremus, ambulantem quoque illum ad aliquas disputationes evocaremus, non tantum paratum discentibus, sed obvium.
I remember Attalus prescribing these things to us when we besieged his school, being the first to arrive and the last to leave, and when we called him out, even as he was walking, to some disputations, he being not only prepared for learners but accessible.
"Idem," inquit, "et docenti et discenti debet esse propositum: ut ille prodesse velit, hic proficere. " §108.4Qui ad philosophum venit, cotidie aliquid secum boni ferat: aut sanior domum redeat aut sanabilior.
'The same purpose,' he said, 'ought to be for both the teacher and the learner: that the former wishes to be of use, the latter to make progress.' Let him who comes to a philosopher carry away some good with him every day: let him return home either healthier or more curable.
Redibit autem; ea philosophiae vis est, ut non studentes, sed etiam conversantes iuvet.
And he will return; such is the power of philosophy that it helps not only those who study but even those who associate with it.
Qui in solem venit, licet non in hoc venerit, colorabitur; qui in unguentaria taberna resederunt et paullo diutius commorati sunt, odorem secum loci ferunt.
He who comes into the sun, even if he did not come into it for this purpose, will be colored; those who have sat in a perfumer's shop and stayed a little longer carry the odor of the place with them.
Et qui ad philosophum fuerunt, traxerint aliquid necesse est, quod prodesset etiam neglegentibus.
And those who have been with a philosopher must have drawn something that would be of use even to the negligent.
Attende, quid dicam: neglegentibus, non repugnantibus.
Mark what I say: to the negligent, not to the resistant.
§108.5"Quid ergo? Non novimus quosdam, qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint? "Quidni noverim? Pertinacissimos quidem et adsiduos, quos ego non discipulos philosophorum, sed inquilinos voco.
'What then? Do we not know some who have sat for many years with a philosopher and have not even drawn any color?' Why should I not know them? Indeed, the most persistent and constant, whom I call not disciples of philosophers but tenants.
§108.6Quidam veniunt ut audiant, non ut discant, sicut in theatrum voluptatis causa ad delectandas aures oratione vel voce vel fabulis ducimur.
Some come to hear, not to learn, just as we are led to the theater for the sake of pleasure, to delight our ears with a speech or voice or plays.
Magnam hanc auditorum partem videbis, cui philosophi schola deversorium otii sit.
You will see this large part of the audience, for whom the philosopher's school is an inn of leisure.
Non id agunt, ut aliqua illo vitia deponant, ut aliquam legem vitae accipiant, qua mores suos exigant, sed ut oblectamento aurium perfruantur.
They do not act to lay down any vices there, or to receive some law of life by which they may direct their morals, but to enjoy the pleasure of their ears.
Aliqui tamen et cum pugillaribus veniunt, non ut res excipiant, sed ut verba, quae tam sine profectu alieno dicant quam sine suo audiunt.
Yet some come even with notebooks, not to take down things but words, which they speak as much without benefit to others as they hear without benefit to themselves.
Quidam ad magnificas voces excitantur et transeunt in adfectum dicentium alacres vultu et animo, nec aliter concitantur quam solent Phrygii tibicinis sono semiviri et ex imperio furentes.
Some are excited by magnificent voices and pass into the affection of the speakers, active in face and mind, and they are excited no otherwise than the half-men are accustomed to be at the sound of the Phrygian flute, raving by command.
Rapit illos instigatque rerum pulchritudo, non verborum inanium sonitus.
The beauty of things, not the sound of empty words, ravishes and instigates them.
Si quid acriter contra mortem dictum est, si quid contra fortunam contumaciter, iuvat protinus quae audias, facere.
If anything is said sharply against death, if anything insolently against fortune, it pleases them immediately to do what they hear.
Adficiuntur illis et sunt quales iubentur, si illa animo forma permaneat, si non impetum insignem protinus populus, honesti dissuasor, excipiat; pauci illam, quam conceperant mentem, domum perferre potuerunt.
They are affected by those things and are such as they are ordered to be, if that form remains in the mind, if the public, the dissuader of the honorable, does not immediately receive and extinguish that remarkable impulse; few have been able to carry home that mind which they had conceived.
§108.8Facile est auditorem concitare ad cupidinem recti; omnibus enim natura fundamenta dedit semenque virtutum.
It is easy to excite a hearer to a desire for what is right; for nature has given to all the foundations and the seed of virtues.
Omnes ad omnia ista nati sumus; cum inritator accessit, tunc illa anima bona veluti soluta excitatur.
We are all born for all those things; when the stimulator has approached, then that good soul is excited as if released.
Non vides, quemadmodum theatra consonent, quotiens aliqua dicta sunt, quae publice adgnoscimus et consensu vera esse testamur?
Do you not see how the theaters resound whenever some things are said which we publicly acknowledge and by consensus witness to be true?
§108.9"
Desunt inopiae multa, avaritiae omnia. In nullum avarus bonus est, in se pessimus. "
Ad hos versus ille sordidissimus plaudit et vittis suis fieri convicium gaudet; quanto magis hoc iudicas evenire, cum a philosopho ista dicuntur, cum salutaribus praeceptis versus inseruntur, efficacius eadem illa demissuri in animum imperitorum?"
'Poverty lacks many things, avarice all things.' 'The avaricious man is good to no one, worst to himself.' At these verses that most sordid man applauds and rejoices that insult is offered to his own vices; how much more do you judge this to happen when those things are said by a philosopher, when verses are inserted among wholesome precepts, destined to lower those same things more effectively into the minds of the unskilful?