§6.1Intellego, Lucili, non emendari me tantum sed transfigurari.
I understand, Lucilius, that I am not only being improved but being transfigured.
Nec hoc promitto iam aut spero, nihil in me superesse, quod mutandum sit.
And I do not yet promise or hope for this, that nothing remains in me which ought to be changed.
Quidni multa habeam, quae debeant colligi, quae extenuari, quae attolli? Et hoc ipsum argumentum est in melius translati animi, quod vitia sua, quae adhuc ignorabat, videt.
Why indeed should I not have many things which ought to be gathered together, to be thinned out, to be elevated? And this very thing is a proof of a mind transferred for the better, that it sees its own vices, which up to now it was ignorant of.
Quibusdam aegris gratulatio fit, cum ipsi aegros se esse senserunt.
Congratulation is offered to certain sick people when they themselves have sensed that they are sick.
§6.2Cuperem itaque tecum communicare tam subitam mutationem mei; tunc amicitiae nostrae certiorem fiduciam habere coepissem, illius verae, quam non spes, non timor, non utilitatis suae cura divellit, illius, cum qua homines moriuntur, pro qua moriuntur.
Therefore I should wish to share with you so sudden a change of myself; then I should have begun to have a surer confidence in our friendship, that true friendship which neither hope, nor fear, nor concern for one's own utility tears asunder, that friendship with which men die, and for which they die.
§6.3Multos tibi dabo, qui non amico, sed amicitia caruerunt.
I will give you many who have lacked not a friend, but friendship.
Hoc non potest accidere, cum animos in societatem honesta cupiendi par voluntas trahit.
This cannot happen when an equal will draws minds into an association of desiring honorable things.
Quidni non possit? Sciunt enim ipsos omnia habere communia, et quidem magis adversa.
Why indeed should it not be impossible? For they know that they have all things in common, and indeed, even more so adversity.
Concipere animo non potes, quantum momenti adferre mihi singulos dies videam.
You cannot conceive in your mind how much of importance I see each single day bringing to me.
" §6.4Mitte," inquis, "et nobis ista, quae tam efficacia expertus es. "Ego vero omnia in te cupio transfundere, et in hoc aliquid gaudeo discere, ut doceam.
"Send," you say, "to us also those things which you have found to be so effective." Indeed I desire to transfuse all things into you, and in this I rejoice to learn something, that I may teach.
Nec me ulla res delectabit, licet sit eximia et salutaris, quam mihi uni sciturus sum.
Nor will any thing delight me, granted it be excellent and salutary, which I am to know for myself alone.
Si cum hac exceptione detur sapientia, ut illam inclusam teneam nec enuntiem, reiciam.
If wisdom should be given with this exception, that I keep it shut up and do not publish it, I should reject it.
Nullius boni sine socio iucunda possessio est.
The possession of no good thing is pleasant without a companion.
§6.5Mittam itaque ipsos tibi libros et ne multum operae inpendas, dum passim profutura sectaris, inponam notas, ut ad ipsa protinus, quae probo et miror, accedas.
Therefore I will send you the books themselves, and lest you spend much effort while you pursue useful things here and there, I will add marks so that you may straightway approach those very things which I approve and admire.
Plus tamen tibi et viva vox et convictus quam oratio proderit.
Yet both the living voice and common life will benefit you more than a written speech.
In rem praesentem venias oportet, primum, quia homines amplius oculis quam auribus credunt; deinde, quia longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla.
You ought to come to the actual scene: first, because men believe their eyes more than their ears; second, because the way is long through precepts, but short and effective through examples.
§6.6Zenonem Cleanthes non expressisset, si tantummodo audisset; vitae eius interfuit, secreta perspexit, observavit illum, an ex formula sua viveret.
Cleanthes would not have reproduced Zeno if he had only listened to him; he took part in his life, thoroughly saw his secrets, and observed him, whether he lived according to his own formula.
Platon et Aristoteles et omnis in diversum itura sapientium turba plus ex moribus quam ex verbis Socratis traxit; Metrodorum et Hermarchum et Polyaenum magnos viros non schola Epicuri sed contubernium fecit.
Plato and Aristotle and all the crowd of wise men destined to go in different directions drew more from the character than from the words of Socrates; not the school of Epicurus but his companionship made Metrodorus, Hermarchus, and Polyaenus great men.
Nec in hoc te accerso tantum, ut proficias, sed ut prosis; plurimum enim alter alteri conferemus.
Nor do I summon you for this only, that you may make progress, but that you may be of benefit; for we shall contribute very much to each other.
§6.7Interim quoniam diurnam tibi mercedulam debeo, quid me hodie apud Hecatonem delectaverit dicam.
Meanwhile, since I owe you a daily small wage, I will tell you what delighted me today in Hecato.
"Quaeris," inquit, "quid profecerim? Amicus esse mihi coepi. "Multum profecit; numquam erit solus.
"You ask," he says, "what progress I have made? I have begun to be a friend to myself." He made great progress; he will never be alone.
Scito hunc amicum omnibus esse.
Know that this friend is a friend to everyone.
VALE.
FAREWELL.