§66.35De bonis ac malis sensus non iudicat; quid utile sit, quid inutile, ignorat.
The senses do not judge concerning goods and evils; they are ignorant of what is useful and what is useless.
Non potest ferre sententiam, nisi in rem praesentem perductus est.
They cannot pass judgment unless brought to the present matter.
Nec futuri providus est nec praeteriti memor; quid sit consequens, nescit.
They are neither foresighted of the future nor mindful of the past; they do not know what follows.
Ex hoc autem rerum ordo sedesque contexitur et unitas vitae per rectum itura.
But from this (reason) the order and foundation of things is woven, and the unity of a life destined to go through the right path.
Ratio ergo arbitra est bonorum ac malorum; aliena et externa pro vilibus habet et ea, quae neque bona sunt neque mala, accessiones minimas ac levissimas iudicat.
Therefore, reason is the arbiter of goods and evils; it regards alien and external things as worthless, and judges those things which are neither good nor evil to be the smallest and lightest additions.
Omne enim illi bonum in animo est. §66.36Ceterum bona quaedam prima existimat, ad quae ex proposito venit, tamquam victoriam, bonos liberos, salutem patriae.
For all its good is in the mind. Moreover, it considers certain goods to be primary, which it reaches by deliberate purpose, such as victory, good children, and the safety of one's country.
Quaedam secunda, quae non apparent nisi in rebus adversis, tamquam aequo animo pati morbum magnum, exilium.
It considers certain goods to be secondary, which do not appear except in adversity, such as enduring a severe illness or exile with an even mind.
Quaedam media, quae nihilo magis secundum naturam sunt quam contra naturam, tamquam prudenter ambulare, conposite sedere.
It considers certain goods to be middle, which are no more according to nature than contrary to nature, such as walking prudently or sitting composedly.
Non enim minus secundum naturam est sedere quam stare aut ambulare. §66.37Duo illa bona superiora diversa sunt.
For sitting is no less according to nature than standing or walking. Those two superior classes of goods are diverse.
Prima enim secundum naturam sunt: gaudere liberorum pietate, patriae incolumitate.
For the primary are according to nature: to rejoice in the devotion of children, and in the safety of one's country.
Secunda contra naturam sunt: fortiter opstare tormentis et sitim perpeti morbo urente praecordia. " §66.38Quid ergo? Aliquid contra naturam bonum est?" Minime;
The secondary are contrary to nature: to oppose tortures bravely, and to endure thirst when sickness burns the breast. "What then?
sed id aliquando contra naturam est, in quo bonum illud existit.
Is something contrary to nature a good?" By no means; but that in which that good exists is sometimes contrary to nature.
Vulnerari enim et subiecto igne tabescere et adversa valetudine adfligi contra naturam est, sed inter ista servare animum infatigabilem secundum naturam est. §66.39Et ut quod volo exprimam breviter, materia boni aliquando contra naturam est, bonum numquam, quoniam bonum sine ratione nullum est, sequitur autem ratio naturam.
For to be wounded, to waste away with fire applied beneath, and to be afflicted by ill health is contrary to nature, but to keep an untiring mind among these things is according to nature. And to express briefly what I mean, the material of the good is sometimes contrary to nature, but the good itself never is, since there is no good without reason, and reason follows nature.
"Quid est ergo ratio? "Naturae imitatio.
"What then is reason?" The imitation of nature.
"Quod est summum hominis bonum? "Ex naturae voluntate se gerere. " §66.40Non est "inquit "dubium, quin felicior pax sit numquam lacessita quam multo reparata sanguine.
"What is the highest good of man?" To conduct oneself according to the will of nature. "There is no doubt," he says, "that a peace never provoked is happier than one restored with much blood.
Non est dubium "inquit "quin felicior res sit inconcussa valetudo quam ex gravibus morbis et extrema minitantibus in tutum vi quadam et patientia educta.
There is no doubt," he says, "that unshaken health is a happier state than that which is brought out of grave illnesses threatening the very end into safety by some force and patience.
Eodem modo non erit dubium, quin maius bonum sit gaudium quam obnixus animus ad perpetiendos cruciatus vulnerum aut ignium. " §66.41Minime.
In the same way, there will be no doubt that joy is a greater good than a mind strained to endure the tortures of wounds or fires." By no means.
Illa enim, quae fortuita sunt, plurimum discriminis recipiunt; aestimantur enim utilitate sumentium.
For those things which are accidental admit of very much difference; for they are estimated by the utility of those who receive them.
Bonorum unum propositum est consentire naturae; hoc in omnibus par est.
The single purpose of goods is to agree with nature; this is equal in all of them.
Cum alicuius in senatu sententiam sequimur, non potest dici: ille magis adsentitur quam ille; ab omnibus in eandem sententiam itur.
When we follow someone's opinion in the senate, it cannot be said: "that man agrees more than this one"; they all go into the same opinion.
Idem de virtutibus dico. omnes naturae adsentiuntur.
I say the same of virtues: they all agree with nature.
Idem de bonis dico: omnia naturae adsentiuntur. §66.42Alter adulescens decessit, alter senex, aliquis praeter hos infans, cui nihil amplius contigit quam prospicere vitam.
I say the same of goods: they all agree with nature. One died as a young man, another as an old man, and someone else, besides these, as an infant, to whom nothing more was granted than to look upon life.
Omnes hi aeque fuere mortales, etiam si mors aliorum longius vitam passa est procedere, aliorum in medio flore praecidit, aliorum interrupit ipsa principia. §66.43Alius inter cenandum solutus est.
All these were equally mortal, even if the death of some allowed life to proceed further, while that of others cut it off in its very flower, and that of others interrupted its very beginnings. One was released in the midst of dining.
Alterius continuata mors somno est.
Another's death was continued from sleep.
Aliquem concubitus extinxit.
Sexual intercourse extinguished someone.
His oppono ferro transfossos aut exanimatos serpentium morsu aut fractos ruina aut per longam nervorum contractionem extortos minutatim.
To these I oppose those pierced by the sword, or deprived of life by the bite of serpents, or crushed by a collapse, or twisted piece by piece through a long contraction of the sinews.
Aliquorum melior dici, aliquorum peior potest exitus; mors quidem omnium par est.
The end of some can be called better, of others worse; yet the death of all is equal.
Per quae desiliunt, diversa sunt; in quod desiliunt, unum est.
The things through which they leap down are diverse; that into which they leap down is one.
Mors nulla maior aut minor est; habet enim eundem in omnibus modum, finisse vitam. §66.44Idem tibi de bonis dico: hoc bonum inter meras voluptates est, hoc inter tristia et acerba.
No death is greater or smaller; for it has the same limit in all, to have ended life. I say the same to you concerning goods: this good is in the midst of pure pleasures, that one in the midst of sad and bitter things.
Illud fortunae indulgentiam rexit, hoc violentiam domuit.
The former governed the indulgence of fortune, the latter subdued its violence.
Utrumque aeque bonum est, quamvis illud plana et molli via ierit, hoc aspera.
Each is equally good, although the former went by a flat and soft path, the latter by a rough one.
Idem finis omnium est: bona sunt, laudanda sunt, virtutem rationemque comitantur; virtus aequat inter se, quicquid agnoscit.
The end of all is the same: they are goods, they are to be praised, they accompany virtue and reason; virtue equals among themselves whatever it recognizes as its own.