§71.1Subinde me de rebus singulis consulis oblitus vasto nos mari dividi.
From time to time you consult me about individual matters, forgetting that we are divided by a vast sea.
Cum magna pars consilii sit in tempore, necesse est evenire, ut de quibusdam rebus tunc ad te perferatur sententia mea, cum iam contraria potior est.
Since a great part of advice depends on timing, it must happen that my opinion on certain matters is brought to you at a time when already the opposite course is preferable.
Consilia enim rebus aptantur.
For plans are adapted to circumstances.
Res nostrae feruntur, immo volvuntur.
Our affairs are carried along, indeed they roll along.
Ergo consilium nasci sub diem debet; et hoc quoque nimis tardum est; sub manu, quod aiunt, nascatur.
Therefore advice ought to be born just at the day of action; and this too is too slow; let it be born, as they say, 'at hand'.
Quemadmodum autem inveniatur, ostendam.
But how it may be found, I shall show.
§71.2Quotiens, quid fugiendum sit aut quid petendum, voles scire, ad summum bonum, propositum totius vitae tuae, respice.
Whenever you wish to know what is to be avoided or what is to be sought, look to the supreme good, the purpose of your whole life.
Illi enim consentire debet, quicquid agimus; non disponet singula, nisi cui iam vitae suae summa proposita est.
For whatever we do must agree with that; he will not arrange single details unless the sum of his life has already been set before him.
Nemo, quamvis paratos habeat colores, similitudinem reddet, nisi iam constat, quid velit pingere.
No one, although he has his colors ready, will produce a likeness unless it is already established what he wishes to paint.
Ideo peccamus, quia de partibus vitae omnes deliberamus, de tota nemo deliberat.
For this reason we err, because we all deliberate about parts of life, but about the whole no one deliberates.
§71.3Scire debet quid petat ille, qui sagittam vult mittere, et tunc derigere ac moderari manu telum.
He who wishes to shoot an arrow must know what he is aiming at, and then direct and control his weapon with his hand.
Errant consilia nostra, quia non habent, quo derigantur.
Our plans wander because they do not have a mark to be directed towards.
Ignorant, quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.
For one who is ignorant of which port he is seeking, no wind is his own.
Necesse est multum in vita nostra casus possit, quia vivimus casu.
It is necessary that chance has great power in our life, because we live by chance.
§71.4Quibusdam autem evenit, ut quaedam scire se nesciant.
But it happens to some that they do not know that they know certain things.
Quemadmodum quaerimus saepe eos, cum quibus stamus, ita plerumque finem summi boni ignoramus adpositum.
Just as we often look for those with whom we are standing, so for the most part we are ignorant of the goal of the supreme good which lies close at hand.
Nec multis verbis nec circumitu longo, quod sit summum bonum, colliges; digito, ut ita dicam, demonstrandum est nec in multa spargendum.
You will gather what the supreme good is neither with many words nor with a long roundabout way; it must be pointed out with a finger, so to speak, and not scattered into many details.
Quid enim ad rem pertinet in particulas illud diducere, cum possis dicere: summum bonum est, quod honestum est? Et quod magis admireris: unum bonum est, quod honestum est, cetera falsa et adulterina bona sunt.
For what does it matter to divide that into small parts, when you can say: the supreme good is what is honorable? And what you may admire more: there is only one good, which is honorable; other things are false and counterfeit goods.
§71.5Hoc si persuaseris tibi et virtutem adamaveris, amare enim parum est, quicquid illa contigerit, id tibi, qualecumque aliis videbitur, faustum felixque erit.
If you convince yourself of this and fall in love with virtue—for to love is not enough—whatever she touches, that will be favorable and happy for you, of whatever kind it seems to others.
Et torqueri, si modo iacueris ipso torquente securior, et aegrotare, si non male dixeris fortunae, si non cesseris morbo, omnia denique, quae ceteris videntur mala, et mansuescent et in bonum abibunt, si super illa eminueris.
And to be tortured—if only you lie there more secure than the torturer himself—and to be sick—if you do not curse fortune, if you do not yield to the disease—finally, all things which seem bad to others will both grow mild and pass into good, if you rise above them.
Hoc liqueat, nihil esse bonum nisi honestum, et omnia incommoda suo iure bona vocabuntur, quae modo virtus honestaverit.
Let this be clear, that nothing is good except the honorable, and all disadvantages will by their own right be called goods, provided only that virtue has made them honorable.
§71.6Multis videmur maiora promittere quam recipit humana condicio; non inmerito.
To many we seem to promise greater things than human condition admits; and not without reason.
Ad corpus enim respiciunt.
For they look to the body.
Revertantur ad animum; iam hominem deo metientur.
Let them return to the mind; then they will measure man by God.
Erige te, Lucili virorum optime, et relinque istum ludum literarium philosophorum, qui rem magnificentissimam ad syllabas vocant, qui animum minuta docendo demittunt et conterunt; fies similis illis, qui invenerunt ista, non qui docent et id agunt, ut philosophia potius difficilis quam magna videatur.
Raise yourself up, Lucilius, best of men, and leave that schoolroom of philosophers who summon the most magnificent thing to syllables, who lower and wear down the mind by teaching minute things; you will become like those who found these things, not those who teach them and make it their aim that philosophy should seem difficult rather than great.
§71.7Socrates qui totam philosophiam revocavit ad mores et hanc summam dixit esse sapientiam, bona malaque distinguere, "sequere," inquit, "illos, si quid apud te habeo auctoritatis, ut sis beatus, et te alicui stultum videri sine.
Socrates, who recalled the whole of philosophy to morals and said that this is the highest wisdom, to distinguish good and bad things, says: "follow those men, if I have any authority with you, so that you may be happy, and allow yourself to seem foolish to someone.
Quisquis volet, tibi contumeliam faciat et iniuriam, tu tamen nihil patieris, si modo tecum erit virtus.
Let whoever wishes do insult and injury to you, yet you will suffer nothing, provided only that virtue is with you.
Si vis," inquit, "beatus esse, si fide bona vir bonus, sine contemnat te aliquis. "Hoc nemo praestabit, nisi qui omnia bona exaequaverit, quia nec bonum sine honesto est et honestum in omnibus par est. "
If you wish," he says, "to be happy, if a good man in good faith, allow someone to despise you." No one will guarantee this, except one who has made all goods equal, because there is no good without the honorable, and the honorable is equal in all things.
§71.8Quid ergo? Nihil interest inter praeturam Catonis et repulsam? Nihil interest, utrum Pharsalica acie Cato vincatur an vincat? Hoc eius bonum, quo victis partibus non potest vinci, par erat illi bono, quo victor rediret in patriam et conponeret pacem?" Quidni par sit? Eadem enim virtute et mala fortuna vincitur et ordinatur bona.
"What then? Is there no difference between Cato's praetorship and his rejection? Is there no difference whether Cato is defeated in the battle of Pharsalus or wins? Was this good of his, by which, though his party was defeated, he could not be defeated, equal to that good by which he might return as victor to his country and arrange peace?" Why should it not be equal? For by the same virtue both bad fortune is conquered and good fortune is ordered.
Virtus autem non potest maior aut minor fieri; unius staturae est. "
But virtue cannot become greater or smaller; it is of one stature.