§39.1Commentarios, quos desideras, diligenter ordinatos et in angustum coactos ego vero conponam.
The notebooks which you desire, carefully arranged and compressed into a small space, I will indeed compile.
Sed vide, ne plus profutura sit ratio ordinaria quam haec, quae nunc vulgo breviarium dicitur, olim cum latine loquerentur, summarium vocabatur. Illa res discenti magis necessaria est, haec scienti.
But consider whether the ordinary method may not be of more benefit than this which is now commonly called an "abridgement," and which was formerly, when Latin was spoken correctly, called a "summary." The former is more necessary for the learner, the latter for the knower.
Illa enim docet, haec admonet.
For the former teaches, while the latter reminds.
Sed utriusque rei tibi copiam faciam.
But I will make both available to you.
Tu a me non est quod illum aut illum exigas; qui notorem dat, ignotus est.
There is no reason for you to demand this or that person from me; he who provides a sponsor is himself unknown.
§39.2Scribam ergo quod vis, sed meo more; interim multos habes, quorum scripta nescio an satis ordinent.
I will therefore write what you wish, but in my own way; in the meantime, you have many whose writings I do not know if they arrange sufficiently.
Sume in manus indicem philosophorum; haec ipsa res expergisci te coget, si videris, quam multi tibi laboraverunt.
Take into your hands the list of philosophers; this very thing will compel you to wake up, if you see how many have labored for you.
Concupisces et ipse ex illis unus esse.
You will also desire to be one of them yourself.
Habet enim hoc optimum in se generosus animus, quod concitatur ad honesta.
For a noble mind has this excellent quality in itself, that it is spurred on to honorable things.
Neminem excelsi ingenii virum humilia delectant et sordida; magnarum rerum species ad se vocat et extollit.
No man of exalted genius is pleased by low and sordid things; the appearance of great things summons him to itself and uplifts him.
§39.3Quemadmodum flamma surgit in rectum, iacere ac deprimi non potest, non magis quam quiescere; ita noster animus in motu est, eo mobilior et actuosior, quo vehementior fuerit.
Just as a flame rises straight up and cannot lie flat or be kept down, any more than it can remain still; so our mind is always in motion, being all the more mobile and active, the more vehement it is.
Sed felix, qui ad meliora hunc inpetum dedit! Ponet se extra ius dicionemque fortunae.
But happy is he who has given this impulse to better things! He will place himself outside the jurisdiction and dominion of fortune.
Secunda temperabit, adversa comminuet et aliis admiranda despiciet.
He will moderate prosperity, shatter adversity, and look down upon things that others admire.
§39.4Magni animi est magna contemnere ac mediocria malle quam nimia.
It is the mark of a great mind to despise great things and to prefer moderate things to excessive ones.
Illa enim utilia vitaliaque sunt; at haec eo, quod superfluunt, nocent.
For the former are useful and vital; but the latter, by the very fact that they overflow, do harm.
Sic segetem nimia sternit ubertas, sic rami nimio onere franguntur, sic ad maturitatem non pervenit nimia fecunditas.
Thus excessive richness lays low the crop, thus branches are broken by an excessive load, thus excessive fruitfulness does not reach maturity.
Idem animis quoque evenit, quos inmoderata felicitas rumpit, qua non tantum in aliorum iniuriam, sed etiam in suam utuntur.
The same thing happens also to minds, which immoderate good fortune ruins, which they use not only to the injury of others but also to their own.
§39.5Qui hostis in quemquam tam contumeliosus fuit quam in quosdam voluptates suae sunt? Quorum inpotentiae atque insanae libidini ob hoc unum possis ignoscere, quod quae fecere patiuntur.
What enemy was ever so abusive to anyone as their own pleasures are to some people? For whose lack of control and mad lust you might forgive for this one reason, that they suffer what they have done.
Nec inmerito hic illos furor vexat; necesse est enim in inmensum exeat cupiditas, quae naturalem modum transilit.
Nor does this madness harass them without cause; for it is necessary that desire, which leaps over its natural limit, should go on to infinity.
Ille enim habet suum finem, inania et ex libidine orta sine termino sunt.
For the former has its own limit, but empty things and those born of caprice are without end.
§39.6Necessaria metitur utilitas; supervacua quo redigis? Voluptatibus itaque se mergunt, quibus in consuetudinem adductis carere non possunt, et ob hoc miserrimi sunt, quod eo pervenerunt, ut illis quae supervacua fuerant, facta sint necessaria.
Utility measures the necessary; where do you limit the superfluous? Therefore they submerge themselves in pleasures, which they cannot do without once they have been turned into a habit, and they are most miserable for this reason, that they have reached the point where what had been superfluous has become necessary to them.
Serviunt itaque voluptatibus, non fruuntur, et mala sua, quod malorum ultimum est, et amant.
Thus they serve their pleasures, rather than enjoy them, and they even love their own evils, which is the ultimate stage of evils.
Tunc autem est consummata infelicitas, ubi turpia non solum delectant, sed etiam placent, et desinit esse remedio locus, ubi quae fuerant vitia, mores sunt.
But then infelicity is consummated, when shameful things not only delight but also please, and there ceases to be room for a remedy when what had been vices are now custom.
VALE.
FAREWELL.