§40.1Quod frequenter mihi scribis, gratias ago.
I thank you for writing to me so frequently.
Nam quo uno modo potes, te mihi ostendis.
For in the only way you can, you reveal yourself to me.
Numquam epistulam tuam accipio, ut non protinus una simus.
I never receive a letter from you without our immediately being together.
Si imagines nobis amicorum absentium iucundae sunt, quae memoriam renovant et desiderium falso atque inani solacio levant, quanto iucundiores sunt litterae, quae vera amici absentis vestigia, veras notas adferunt? Nam quod in conspectu dulcissimum est, id amici manus epistulae inpressa praestat, agnoscere.
If the portraits of our absent friends are pleasant to us, which renew memory and lighten longing with a false and empty consolation, how much more pleasant are letters, which bring the true traces and true signs of an absent friend? For that which is sweetest in being face to face, namely, recognition, is provided by the friend's hand impressed upon the letter.
§40.2Audisse te scribis Serapionem philosophum, cum istuc adplicuisset: "Solet magno cursu verba convellere, quae non effundit una, sed premit et urguet.
You write that you have heard the philosopher Serapion, when he had arrived there: "He is accustomed to hurl his words with great speed, which he does not pour forth together, but crowds and presses.
Plura enim veniunt quam quibus vox una sufficiat. "Hoc non probo in philosopho, cuius pronuntiatio quoque, sicut vita, debet esse conposita; nihil autem ordinatum est, quod praecipitatur et properat.
For more words come than one voice can suffice for." I do not approve of this in a philosopher, whose pronunciation also, just like his life, ought to be composed; moreover, nothing is orderly which is rushed and hurried.
Itaque oratio illa apud Homerum concitata et sine intermissione in morem nivis superveniens iuveniori oratori data est, lenis et melle dulcior seni profluit.
Therefore, that speech in Homer, rapid and without intermission, falling like snow, is given to the younger orator, while the gentle one, sweeter than honey, flows from the old man.
§40.3Sic itaque habe, istam vim dicendi rapidam atque abundantem aptiorem esse circulanti quam agenti rem magnam ac seriam docentique.
Understand it thus, therefore, that this rapid and abundant force of speaking is more suitable for a mountebank than for one who is treating a great and serious matter and teaching.
Aeque stillare illum nolo quam currere; nec extendat aures nec obruat.
I am as unwilling for him to drip as to run; let him neither strain the ears nor overwhelm them.
Nam illa quoque inopia et exilitas minus intentum auditorem habet taedio interruptae tarditatis, facilius tamen insidit, quod exspectatur, quam quod praetervolat.
For that poverty and thinness also keeps the hearer less attentive because of the tedium of interrupted slowness, yet what is expected sinks in more easily than what flies past.
Denique tradere homines discipulis praecepta dicuntur; non traditur quod fugit.
Finally, people are said to "hand down" precepts to disciples; what flees is not handed down.
§40.4Adice nunc, quod quae veritati operam dat oratio, inconposita esse debet et simplex.
Add now to this, that the speech which devotes itself to truth ought to be uncomposed and simple.
Haec popularis nihil habet veri; movere vult turbam et inconsultas aures inpetu rapere, tractandam se non praebet, aufertur.
This popular speech has nothing of the truth; it wants to move the crowd and sweep away unreflecting ears by its rush; it does not offer itself to be handled, but is carried away.
Quomodo autem regere potest, quae regi non potest? Quid, quod haec oratio, quae sanandis mentibus adhibetur, descendere in nos debet? Remedia non prosunt, nisi inmorantur.
But how can that rule which cannot be ruled? What of the fact that this speech, which is applied to healing minds, ought to sink into us? Remedies do not benefit unless they remain.
§40.5Multum praeterea habet inanitatis et vani, plus sonat quam valet.
Besides, it has much of emptiness and vanity; it sounds more than it is worth.
Lenienda sunt, quae me exterrent, conpescenda, quae inritant, discutienda, quae fallunt, inhibenda luxuria, corripienda avaritia;
Those things which terrify me must be assuaged, those which irritate must be checked, those which deceive must be dispelled, luxury must be restrained, avarice must be corrected; which of these can be done in a rush?
quid horum raptim potest fieri? Quis medicus aegros in transitu curat? Quid, quod ne voluptatem quidem ullam habet talis verborum sine dilectu ruentium strepitus?
What physician cures his patients in passing? What of the fact that such a noise of words rushing without selection has not even any pleasure?
§40.6Sed ut pleraque, quae fieri posse non crederes, cognovisse satis est, ita istos, qui verba exercuerunt, abunde est semel audisse.
But just as it is enough to have known many things which you would not believe could be done, so it is more than enough to have heard once those who have exercised their words.
Quid enim quis discere, quid imitari velit? Quid de eorum animo iudicet, quorum oratio perturbata et inmissa est nec potest reprimi?
For what would anyone wish to learn, what to imitate from them? What should one judge concerning the mind of those whose speech is disordered and unbridled, and cannot be restrained?
§40.7Quemadmodum per proclive currentium non ubi visum est, gradus sistitur, sed inritato corporis pondere se rapit ac longius quam voluit effertur; sic ista dicendi celeritas nec in sua potestate est nec satis decora philosophiae, quae ponere debet verba, non proicere, et pedetemptim procedere.
Just as the step of those running down a slope is not stopped where they intended, but, driven by the momentum of the body's weight, is carried away and borne further than they wished; so this speed of speaking is neither in its own power nor is it becoming enough for philosophy, which ought to place its words, not fling them, and proceed step by step.