§115.1Nimis anxium esse te circa verba et compositionem, mi Lucili, nolo; habeo maiora, quae cures.
I do not wish you, my Lucilius, to be too anxious about words and composition; I have greater things for you to care about.
Quaere, quid scribas, non quemadmodum; et hoc ipsum, non ut scribas, sed ut sentias, ut illa, quae senseris, magis adplices tibi et velut signes.
Seek what you should write, not how; and this itself, not so that you may write, but so that you may feel, so that you may apply those things which you have felt more to yourself and, as it were, stamp them upon you.
Cuiuscumque orationem videris sollicitam et politam, scito animum quoque non minus esse pusillis occupatum.
Whosoever's speech you see to be anxious and polished, know that their mind also is no less occupied with trifling things.
§115.2Magnus ille remissius loquitur et securius; quaecumque dicit, plus habent fiduciae quam curae.
That great man speaks more easily and with less care; whatever he says has more of confidence than of anxiety.
Nosti comptulos iuvenes, barba et coma nitidos, de capsula totos; nihil ab illis speraveris forte, nihil solidum.
You know those dandy young men, gleaming with their beard and hair, entirely straight out of a bandbox; you should expect nothing strong, nothing solid from them.
Oratio cultus animi est: si circumtonsa est et fucata et manu facta, ostendit illum quoque non esse sincerum et habere aliquid fracti.
Speech is the cultivation of the mind: if it is trimmed all around and painted and artificial, it shows that the mind also is not sincere and has something broken in it.
Non est ornamentum virile concinnitas.
Symmetry is not a manly ornament.
§115.3Si nobis animum boni viri liceret inspicere, o quam pulchram faciem, quam sanctam, quam ex magnifico placidoque fulgentem videremus, hinc iustitia, illinc fortitudine, hinc temperantia prudentiaque lucentibus! Praeter has frugalitas et continentia et tolerantia et liberalitas comitasque et—quis credat?—in homine rarum humanitas bonum, splendorem illi suum adfunderent.
If we were allowed to look into the mind of a good man, oh, what a beautiful face, how holy, how gleaming from grandeur and tranquility we should see, with justice shining from this side, fortitude from that, and temperance and prudence from this! In addition to these, frugality, self-control, endurance, liberality, courtesy, and—who would believe it?—humanity, a rare good in man, would pour their own splendor upon it.
Tunc providentia cum elegantia et ex istis magnanimitas eminentissima quantum, di boni, decoris illi, quantum ponderis gravitatisque adderent! Quanta esset cum gratia auctoritas! Nemo illam amabilem, qui non simul venerabilem diceret.
Then foresight along with refinement, and, most eminent of all arising from these, magnanimity, oh, good gods, how much beauty, how much weight and gravity they would add to it! How great would be its authority combined with grace! No one would call it amiable without at the same time calling it venerable.
§115.4Si quis viderit hanc faciem altiorem fulgentioremque quam cerni inter humana consuevit, nonne velut numinis occursu obstupefactus resistat et, ut "fas sit vidisse," tacitus precetur? Tum evocante ipsa vultus benignitate productus adoret ac supplicet, et diu contemplatus multum extantem superque mensuram solitorum inter nos aspici elatam, oculis mite quiddam, sed nihilominus vivido igne flagrantibus, tunc deinde illam Vergili nostri vocem verens atque attonitus emittat?
If anyone should see this face, loftier and more radiant than what is accustomed to be seen among human things, would he not stop, stunned as if by the encounter with a divinity, and silently pray that "it may be lawful to have seen it"? Then, drawn forward by the very kindness of the countenance calling him forth, would he not worship and supplicate, and having long contemplated it, standing out far and elevated above the measure of things accustomed to be looked at among us, with eyes that have something gentle in them, but nonetheless burning with a vivid fire—would he not then at last, reverent and astonished, utter that voice of our Virgil?
§115.5"
O quam te memorem, virgo? Namque haut tibi vultus
Mortalis nec vox hominem sonat.
"Oh, how should I call you, maiden? For your countenance is not mortal, nor does your voice sound human.
Sis felix, nostrumque leves quaecumque laborem.
May you be propitious, and, whoever you are, lighten our labor.
"
Aderit levabitque, si colere eam voluerimus.
"She will be present and will lighten it, if we are willing to worship her.
Colitur autem non taurorum opimis corporibus contrucidatis nec auro argentoque suspenso nec in thensauros stipe infusa, sed pia et recta voluntate.
But she is worshiped not by slaughtering the fat bodies of bulls, nor by hanging up gold and silver, nor by pouring small coins into treasuries, but by a pious and upright will.
§115.6Nemo, inquam, non amore eius arderet, si nobis illam videre contingeret; nunc enim multa obstrigilant et aciem nostram aut splendore nimio repercutiunt aut obscuro retinent.
No one, I say, would not burn with love for her, if it were our lot to see her; but as it is, many things block our way and either strike back our vision with excessive brightness or keep it in darkness.
Sed si, quemadmodum visus oculorum quibusdam medicamentis acui solet et repurgari, sic nos aciem animi liberare inpedimentis voluerimus, poterimus perspicere virtutem etiam obrutam corpore, etiam paupertate opposita, etiam humilitate et infamia obiacentibus, Cernemus, inquam, pulchritudinem illam quamvis sordido obtectam.
But if, just as the sight of the eyes is accustomed to be sharpened and cleansed by certain medicines, we are willing to free the vision of our mind from obstacles, we shall be able to perceive virtue even when buried in a body, even when poverty stands in its way, even when lowliness and infamy lie across it. We shall discern, I say, that beauty however covered with dirt.
§115.7Rursus aeque malitiam et aerumnosi animi veternum perspiciemus, quamvis multus circa divitiarum radiantium splendor inpediat et intuentem hinc honorum, illinc magnarum potestatium falsa lux verberet.
On the other hand, we shall equally perceive malice and the lethargy of a wretched mind, although the great splendor of radiant riches around it hinders us, and the false light of honors on this side, and of great powers on that side, strikes the onlooker.
§115.8Tunc intellegere nobis licebit, quam contemnenda miremur, simillimi pueris, quibus omne ludicrum in pretio est; parentibus quippe nec minus fratribus praeferunt parvo aere empta monilia.
Then it will be permitted to us to understand how contemptible are the things we admire, being very like children to whom every toy is precious; indeed, they prefer necklaces bought for a few copper coins to their parents and no less to their brothers.
Quid ergo inter nos et illos interest, ut Ariston ait, nisi quod nos circa tabulas et statuas insanimus carius inepti? Illos reperti in litore calculi leves et aliquid habentes varietatis delectant, nos ingentium maculae columnarum, sive ex Aegyptiis harenis sive ex Africae solitudinibus advectae porticum aliquam vel capacem populi cenationem ferunt.
What, then, is the difference between us and them, as Ariston says, except that we run mad about paintings and statues, being foolish at a higher cost? Smooth pebbles found on the shore, having some variety, delight them; the spots of huge columns, brought either from Egyptian sands or from the deserts of Africa to support some portico or a dining room capable of holding a crowd, delight us.
§115.9Miramur parietes tenui marmore inductos, cum sciamus, quale sit quod absconditur.
We admire walls overlaid with a thin layer of marble, though we know what kind of thing is hidden beneath.
Oculis nostris inponimus, et cum auro tecta perfudimus, quid aliud quam mendacio gaudemus? Scimus enim sub illo auro foeda ligna latitare.
We practice a deception upon our own eyes, and when we have gilded our ceilings with gold, what else do we do but rejoice in a lie?
Nec tantum parietibus aut lacunaribus ornamentum tenue praetenditur;
For we know that ugly wood lurks beneath that gold.
omnium istorum, quos incedere altos vides, bratteata felicitas est.
Nor is a thin ornament stretched over walls or lacunars alone; the happiness of all those whom you see walking high is gold-leafed.
Inspice, et scies, sub ista tenui membrana dignitatis quantum mali iaceat.
Look within, and you will know how much evil lies beneath that thin membrane of dignity.