§119.1Quotiens aliquid inveni, non expecto, donec dicas "in commune. "Ipse mihi dico.
Whenever I find something, I do not wait for you to say "halves!" I say it to myself.
Quid sit, quod invenerim quaeris; sinum laxa, merum lucrum est.
You ask what it is that I have found; open your pocket, it is sheer profit.
Docebo, quomodo fieri dives celerrime possis.
I shall teach you how you can become rich most quickly.
Quam valde cupis audire! nec inmerito; ad maximas te divitias conpendiaria ducam.
How greatly you desire to hear! and not without reason; I shall lead you to the greatest riches by a shortcut.
Opus erit tamen tibi creditore; ut negotiari possis, aes alienum facias oportet, sed nolo per intercessorem mutueris, nolo proxenetae nomen tuum iactent.
Yet you will have need of a creditor; that you may do business, you must contract debt, but I do not want you to borrow through an intermediary, nor do I want brokers to bandy your name about.
§119.2Paratum tibi creditorem dabo Catonianum illum, a te mutuum sumes.
I shall give you that Cato-like creditor who is ready at hand, you will borrow from yourself.
Quantulumcumque est, satis erit, si, quidquid deerit, id a nobis petierimus.
However little it is, it will be enough if, whatever is lacking, we seek it from ourselves.
Nihil enim, mi Lucili, interest, utrum non desideres an habeas.
For it makes no difference, my Lucilius, whether you do not desire or whether you have.
Summa rei in utroque eadem est: non torqueberis.
The main point in both is the same: you will not be tormented.
Nec illud praecipio, ut aliquid naturae neges— contumax est, non potest vinci, suum poscit—sed ut quicquid naturam excedit, scias precarium esse, non necessarium.
Nor do I prescribe this, that you should deny anything to nature—she is obstinate, she cannot be conquered, she demands her own—but that whatever exceeds nature, you should know to be precarious, not necessary.
§119.3Esurio; edendum est.
I am hungry; I must eat.
Utrum hic panis sit plebeius an siligineus, ad naturam nihil pertinet; illa ventrem non delectari vult, sed impleri.
Whether this bread is common or of fine flour makes no difference to nature; she does not wish the stomach to be pleased, but to be filled.
Sitio; utrum haec aqua sit, quam ex lacu proximo excepero, an ea, quam multa nive clusero, ut rigore refrigeretur alieno, ad naturam nihil pertinet.
I am thirsty; whether this is water which I have drawn from the nearest pool, or that which I have shut up in much snow so that it might be cooled by an external cold, makes no difference to nature.
Illa hoc unum iubet, sitim extingui; utrum sit aureum poculum an crustallinum an murreum an Tiburtinus calix an manus concava, nihil refert.
She commands this one thing, that thirst be quenched; whether it be a golden cup, or one of crystal, or of murrine, or a Tiburtine bowl, or the hollow of the hand, makes no difference.
§119.4Finem omnium rerum specta, et supervacua dimittes.
Look to the end of all things, and you will dismiss superfluous things.
Fames me appellat; ad proxima quaeque porrigatur manus; ipsa mihi commendavit quodcumque comprendero.
Hunger calls me; let the hand be stretched out to whatever is nearest; hunger itself has recommended to me whatever I shall have grasped.
§119.5Nihil contemnit esuriens.
A hungry man despises nothing.
Quid sit ergo, quod me delectaverit quaeris? videtur mihi egregie dictum: sapiens divitiarum naturalium est quaesitor acerrimus. "Inani me," ' inquis, "lance muneras.
You ask, then, what it is that has pleased me? It seems to me excellently said: "The wise man is the most eager seeker of natural riches." You say, "You present me with an empty dish.
Quid est istud? Ego iam paraveram fiscos.
What is that? I had already prepared my money-bags.
Circumspiciebam, in quod me mare negotiaturus inmitterem, quod publicum agitarem, quas arcesserem merces.
I was looking around to see into what sea I should cast myself to do business, what public revenue I should manage, what merchandise I should import.
Decipere est istud, docere paupertatem, cum divitias promiseris. "Ita tu pauperem iudicas, cui nihil deest? "Suo," inquis, "et patientiae suae beneficio, non fortunae. "Ideo ergo illum non iudicas divitem, quia divitiae eius desinere non possunt? Utrum mavis habere multum an satis?
That is to deceive, to teach poverty when you promised riches." Do you thus judge him poor to whom nothing is lacking? "By his own favor," you say, "and that of his patience, not of fortune." Is it for this reason, then, that you do not judge him rich, because his riches cannot fail? Do you prefer to have much or enough?
§119.6Qui multum habet, plus cupit; quod est argumentum nondum illum satis habere; qui satis habet, consecutus est, quod numquam diviti contigit, finem.
He who has much desires more, which is proof that he does not yet have enough; he who has enough has attained the end, which never fell to the lot of the rich man.
An has ideo non putas esse divitias, quia propter illas nemo proscriptus est? Quia propter illas nulli venenum filius, nulli uxor inpegit? Quia in bello tutae sunt? Quia in pace otiosae? Quia nec habere illas periculosum est nec operosum disponere?
Or do you think these are not riches because no one has been proscribed on account of them? Because on account of them no son has administered poison to his father, no wife to her husband? Because they are safe in war? Because they are undisturbed in peace? Because it is neither dangerous to have them nor laborious to manage them?
§119.7"At parum habet qui tantum non alget, non esurit, non sitit. "Plus Iuppiter non habet.
"But he has too little who only does not freeze, does not hunger, does not thirst." Jupiter has no more.
Numquam parum est quod satis est, et numquam multum est quod satis non est.
What is enough is never too little, and what is not enough is never much.
Post Dareum et Indos pauper est Alexander.
After Darius and the Indians, Alexander is poor.
Mentior? Quaerit, quod suum faciat, scrutatur maria ignota, in oceanum classes novas mittit et ipsa, ut ita dicam, mundi claustra perrumpit.
Am I lying? He seeks what he may make his own, he searches unknown seas, he sends new fleets into the ocean, and, so to speak, bursts through the very barriers of the world.
Quod naturae satis est, homini non est.
What is enough for nature is not enough for man.