§45.1Librorum istic inopiam esse querens.
Your complaining of a lack of books there.
Non refert, quam multos, sed quam bonos habeas; lectio certa prodest, varia delectat.
It does not matter how many you have, but how good they are; reading a specific thing is beneficial, a variety of things delights.
Qui, quo destinavit, pervenire vult, unam sequatur viam, non per multas vagetur.
He who wants to arrive where he has destined should follow one way, not wander through many.
Non ire istuc, sed errare est.
That is not going there, but straying.
§45.2"Vellem," inquis, "magis consilium mihi quam libros dares. "Ego vero quoscumque habeo, mittere paratus sum et totum horreum excutere.
"I should wish," you say, "that you would give me advice rather than books." But I indeed am ready to send whatever I have, and to shake out my entire storehouse.
Me quoque isto, si possem, transferrem, et nisi mature te finem officii sperarem inpetraturum, hanc senilem expeditionem indixissem mihi nec me Charybdis et Scylla et fabulosum istud fretum deterrere potuissent.
I would also transfer myself there, if I could; and unless I hoped that you would soon obtain the end of your duty, I would have declared this elderly expedition for myself, nor could Charybdis and Scylla and that fabulous strait have deterred me.
Tranassem ista, non solum traiecissem, dummodo te conplecti possem et praesens aestimare, quantum animo crevisses.
I would have swum across those waters, not just crossed them, provided that I could embrace you and assess in person how much you had grown in mind.
§45.3Ceterum quod libros meos tibi mitti desideras, non magis ideo me disertum puto quam formosum putarem, si imaginem meam peteres.
Moreover, as for your desiring my books to be sent to you, I do not think myself eloquent because of that any more than I would think myself handsome if you were to ask for my portrait.
Indulgentiae scio istud esse, non iudicii. Et si modo iudicii est, indulgentia tibi inposuit.
I know that this belongs to affection, not to judgment; and even if it is a matter of judgment, affection has imposed upon you.
§45.4Sed qualescumque sunt, tu illos sic lege, tamquam verum quaeram adhuc, non sciam, et contumaciter quaeram.
But whatever they are, read them in such a way as if I were still seeking the truth, not knowing it, and seeking it obstinately.
Non enim me cuiquam emancipavi, nullius nomen fero.
For I have not sold myself to anyone, I bear no one's name.
Multum magnorum virorum iudicio credo, aliquid et meo vindico.
I trust much in the judgment of great men, but I also claim something for my own.
Nam illi quoque non inventa, sed quaerenda nobis reliquerunt, et invenissent forsitan necessaria, nisi et supervacua quaesissent.
For they too left to us not things discovered, but things to be discovered; and they would perhaps have found necessary things, if they had not also sought superfluous ones.
§45.5Multum illis temporis verborum cavillatio eripuit, captiosae disputationes,quae acumen irritum exercent.
An quibbling of words and captious disputations, which exercise a useless sharpness, snatched much time from them.
Nectimus nodos et ambiguam significationem verbis inligamus ac deinde dissolvimus.
We tie knots and bind ambiguous meaning to words, and then undo them.
Tantum nobis vacat? Iam vivere, iam mori scimus? Tota illo mente pergendum est, ubi provideri debet, ne res nos, non verba, decipiant.
Do we have so much free time? Do we already know how to live, how to die? We must proceed with our whole mind to that place where precautions must be taken lest things, not words, deceive us.
§45.6Quid mihi vocum similitudines distinguis, quibus nemo umquam nisi dum disputat captus est? Res fallunt; illas discerne.
Why do you distinguish for me the similarities of words, by which no one has ever been caught except while disputing? Things deceive; distinguish them.
Pro bonis mala amplectimur; optamus contra id, quod optavimus.
We embrace bad things instead of good; we wish for the opposite of what we wished.
Pugnant vota nostra cum votis, consilia cum consiliis.
Our prayers fight with prayers, our plans with plans.
§45.7Adulatio quam similis est amicitiae! Non imitatur tantum illam, sed vincit et praeterit;
How similar flattery is to friendship!
apertis ac propitiis auribus recipitur et in praecordia ima descendit, eo ipso gratiosa, quo laedit.
It does not only imitate it, but surpasses and outruns it; it is received with open and favorable ears and descends into the inmost heart, welcome for the very reason that it harms.
Doce quemadmodum hanc similitudinem possim dinoscere.
Teach me how I can distinguish this similarity.
Venit ad me pro amico blandus inimicus.
A flattering enemy comes to me instead of a friend.
Vitia nobis sub virtutum nomine obrepunt, temeritas sub titulo fortitudinis latet, moderatio vocatur ignavia, pro cauto timidus accipitur; in his magno periculo erramus.
Vices creep upon us under the name of virtues, rashness lurks under the title of bravery, moderation is called laziness, the timid is accepted instead of the cautious; in these we err with great danger.
His certas notas inprime.
Imprint on these certain marks.
§45.8Ceterum qui interrogatur, an cornua habeat, non est tam stultus, ut frontem suam temptet, nec rursus tam ineptus aut hebes, ut ne sciat tu illi subtilissima collectione persuaseris.
Moreover, he who is asked whether he has horns is not so foolish as to feel his forehead, nor again so silly or dull as not to know that you have persuaded him by a very subtle deduction.
Sic ista sine noxa decipiunt, quomodo praestigiatorum acetabula et calculi, in quibus me fallacia ipsa delectat.
Thus those things deceive without harm, just as the cups and balls of jugglers, in which the deception itself delights me.
Effice, ut quomodo fiat intellegam; perdidi usum.
Make me understand how it is done; I have lost the knack.
Idem de istis captionibus dico;
I say the same about those catches; for by what name should I rather call sophisms?
quo enim nomine potius sophismata appellem? Nec ignoranti nocent nec scientem iuvant.
They neither harm the ignorant nor help the knowing.