§4.1Persevera ut coepisti et quantum potes propera, quo diutius frui emendato animo et conposito possis.
Persevere as you have begun and hasten as much as you can, so that you may be able to enjoy a corrected and composed mind for a longer time.
Frueris quidem etiam dum emendas, etiam dum conponis; alia tamen illa voluptas est, quae percipitur ex contemplatione mentis ab omni labe purae et splendidae.
You do indeed enjoy it even while you are correcting, even while you are composing it; yet that pleasure is of another kind which is perceived from the contemplation of a mind pure and splendid from every stain.
§4.2Tenes utique memoria, quantum senseris gaudium, cum praetexta posita sumpsisti virilem togam et in forum deductus es; maius expecta, cum puerilem animum deposueris et te in viros philosophia transscripserit.
You surely keep in memory how great a joy you felt when, having laid aside the toga praetexta, you assumed the manly toga and were led into the forum; expect a greater one when you have laid aside your boyish mind and philosophy has enrolled you among men.
Adhuc enim non pueritia sed, quod est gravius, puerilitas remanet.
For up to now, not boyhood, but what is more serious, childishness remains.
Et hoc quidem peior est, quod auctoritatem habemus senum, vitia puerorum, nec puerorum tantum sed infantum.
And this is indeed worse in that we have the authority of old men, but the vices of boys, and not only of boys but of infants.
Illi levia, hi falsa formidant, nos utraque.
The former fear trivial things, the latter false things, and we fear both.
§4.3Profice modo; intelleges quaedam ideo minus timenda, quia multum metus adferunt.
Only make progress; you will understand that certain things are all the less to be feared because they bring much fear.
Nullum malum est magnum, quod extremum est.
No evil is great which is the last.
Mors ad te venit; timenda erat, si tecum esse posset; sed necesse est aut non perveniat aut transeat
Death comes to you; it was to be feared if it could be with you; but it must of necessity either not arrive or pass away.
§4.4"Difficile est," inquis, "animum perducere ad contemptionem animae. "Non vides, quam ex frivolis causis contemnatur? Alius ante amicae fores laqueo pependit, alius se praecipitavit e tecto, ne dominum stomachantem diutius audiret, alius ne reduceretur e fuga, ferrum adegit in viscera.
"It is difficult," you say, "to bring the mind to a contempt of life." Do you not see for what trifling reasons it is contemned? One hung by a noose before his mistress's door, another cast himself down from the roof so that he might no longer hear his angry master, another, lest he should be brought back from flight, drove the sword into his vitals.
Non putas virtutem hoc effecturam, quod efficit nimia formido? Nulli potest secura vita contingere, qui de producenda nimis cogitat, qui inter magna bona multos consules numerat.
Do you not think that virtue will accomplish this which excessive fear accomplishes? No secure life can fall to the lot of anyone who thinks too much about prolonging it, who counts many consuls among great goods.
§4.5Hoc cotidie meditare, ut possis aequo animo vitam relinquere, quam multi sic conplectuntur et tenent, quomodo qui aqua torrente rapiuntur spinas et aspera.
Meditate on this daily, so that you may be able to leave with an even mind this life which many so embrace and hold onto, just as those who are carried away by a rushing torrent grasp at thorns and rough rocks.
Plerique inter mortis metum et vitae tormenta miseri fluctuantur et vivere nolunt, mori nesciunt.
Most people fluctuate miserably between the fear of death and the torments of life, and are unwilling to live, yet do not know how to die.
§4.6Fac itaque tibi iucundam vitam omnem pro illa sollicitudinem deponendo.
Therefore, make your whole life pleasant to yourself by laying aside all anxiety about it.
Nullum bonum adiuvat habentem, nisi ad cuius amissionem praeparatus est animus; nullius autem rei facilior amissio est, quam quae desiderari amissa non potest.
No good benefits the owner unless his mind is prepared for its loss; moreover, of no thing is the loss easier than that which, once lost, cannot be missed.
Ergo adversus haec, quae incidere possunt etiam potentissimis, adhortare te et indura.
Therefore, against these things which can happen even to the most powerful, encourage yourself and harden yourself.
§4.7De Pompei capite pupillus et spado tulere sententiam, de Crasso crudelis et insolens Parthus; Gaius Caesar iussit Lepidum Dextro tribuno praebere cervicem, ipse Chaereae praestitit.
Concerning Pompey's head, a minor and a eunuch passed judgment, concerning Crassus, a cruel and insolent Parthian; Gaius Caesar ordered Lepidus to offer his neck to the tribune Dexter, and he himself offered his to Chaerea.
Neminem eo fortuna provexit, ut non tantum illi minaretur, quantum permiserat.
Fortune has advanced no one so high that she did not threaten him with as much as she had permitted him.
Noli huic tranquillitati confidere; momento mare evertitur.
Do not trust this tranquility; in a moment the sea is overturned.
Eodem die ubi luserunt navigia, sorbentur.
On the same day where vessels have sported, they are swallowed up.
§4.8Cogita posse et latronem et hostem admovere iugulo tuo gladium: Ut potestas maior absit, nemo non servus habet in te vitae necisque arbitrium.
Reflect that both a robber and an enemy can apply a sword to your throat: even though a greater power be absent, there is no slave who does not have the power of life and death over you.
Ita dico: quisquis vitam suam contempsit, tuae dominus est.
So I say: whoever has contemned his own life is master of yours.
Recognosce exempla eorum, qui domesticis insidiis perierunt, aut aperta vi aut dolo; intelleges non pauciores servorum ira cecidisse quam regum.
Recall the examples of those who have perished by domestic plots, either by open force or by guile; you will understand that no fewer have fallen by the anger of slaves than of kings.
Quid ad te itaque, quam potens sit quem times, cum id, propter quod times, nemo non possit?
What is it to you, therefore, how powerful he is whom you fear, when what you fear is what anyone can do?
§4.9At si forte in manus hostium incideris, victor te duci iubebit; eo nempe, quo duceris.
But if by chance you fall into the hands of enemies, the victor will order you to be led; namely, to that place to which you are being led.
Quid te ipse decipis et hoc nunc primum, quod olim patiebaris, intellegis? Ita dico: ex quo natus es, duceris.
Why do you deceive yourself and only now understand this which you have long been suffering? So I say: from the moment you were born, you are being led.
Haec et eiusmodi versanda in animo sunt, si volumus ultimam illam horam placidi expectare, cuius metus omnes alias inquietas facit.
These and similar things must be revolved in the mind, if we wish to await peacefully that last hour, the fear of which makes all other hours restless.
§4.10Sed ut finem epistulae inponam, accipe, quod mihi hodierno die placuit.
But so that I may put an end to the letter, accept what pleased me today.
Et hoc quoque ex alienis hortulis sumptum est. "Magnae divitiae sunt lege naturae composita paupertas. "Lex autem illa naturae scis quos nobis terminos statuat? Non esurire, non sitire, non algere.
And this too was taken from another's gardens: "Poverty composed according to the law of nature is great wealth." But do you know what boundaries that law of nature sets for us? Not to hunger, not to thirst, not to be cold.
Ut famem sitimque depellas, non est necesse superbis adsidere liminibus nec supercilium grave et contumeliosam etiam humanitatem pati, non est necesse maria temptare nec sequi castra; parabile est, quod natura desiderat, et adpositum.
To drive away hunger and thirst, it is not necessary to sit at proud thresholds, nor to endure a heavy brow and even an insulting kindness; it is not necessary to tempt the seas nor to follow camps; what nature desires is easily procurable and ready at hand.
§4.11Ad supervacua sudatur.
For superfluous things we sweat.
Illa sunt, quae togam conterunt, quae nos senescere sub tentorio cogunt, quae in aliena litora inpingunt.
It is those things which wear out the toga, which force us to grow old under a tent, which drive us onto foreign shores.
Ad manum est, quod sat est.
What is enough is close at hand.
Cui cum paupertate bene convenit, dives est.
He with whom poverty agrees well is rich.
VALE.
FAREWELL.