§82.11Nihil horum per se gloriosum est, nihil tamen sine his.
None of these things is glorious in itself, yet nothing is without them.
Laudatur enim non paupertas, sed ille, quem paupertas non summittit nec incurvat.
For it is not poverty that is praised, but the man whom poverty does not cast down nor bend.
Laudatur non exilium, sed ille qui in exilium ivit tanquam misisset.
It is not exile that is praised, but the man who went into exile as if he had sent himself.
Laudatur non dolor, sed ille, quem nihil coegit dolor.
It is not pain that is praised, but the man whom pain has forced to do nothing.
Nemo mortem laudat, sed eum, cuius mors ante abstulit animum quam conturbavit.
No one praises death, but the man whose death took away his life before it disturbed his mind.
§82.12Omnia ista per se non sunt honesta nec gloriosa, sed quicquid ex illis virtus adiit tractavitque, honestum et gloriosum facit; illa in medio posita sunt; interest, utrum malitia illis an virtus manum admoverit.
All those things are not honorable or glorious in themselves, but whatever of them virtue has approached and handled, she makes honorable and glorious; they are placed in the middle; it matters whether malice or virtue has laid a hand upon them.
Mors enim illa, quae in Catone gloriosa est, in Bruto statim turpis est et erubescenda.
For that death, which in Cato is glorious, in Brutus is immediately shameful and to be blushed at.
Hic est enim Brutus, qui cum periturus mortis moras quaereret, ad exonerandum ventrem secessit et evocatus ad mortem iussusque praebere cervicem: "praebebo," inquit, "ita vivam. "Quae dementia est fugere, cum retro ire non possis? "Praebebo," inquit, "ita vivam.
For this is the Brutus who, when about to perish and seeking delays of death, withdrew to empty his bowels, and when called out to death and ordered to offer his neck, said: "I will offer it, if so I may live." What madness it is to flee when you cannot go back!
"Paene adiecit' "vel sub Antonio. "O hominem dignum, qui vitae dederetur!
"I will offer it," he said, "if so I may live." He almost added: "even under Antony." Oh, man worthy to be delivered up to life!
§82.13Sed, ut coeperam dicere, vides ipsam mortem nec malum esse nec bonum; Cato illa honestissime usus est, turpissime Brutus.
But, as I had begun to say, you see that death itself is neither an evil nor a good; Cato used it most honorably, Brutus most shamefully.
Omnis res quod non habuit decus, virtute addita sumit.
Every matter receives a dignity it did not have, once virtue is added.
Cubiculum lucidum dicimus, hoc idem obscurissimum est nocte.
We call a room bright, which same room is darkest at night.
§82.14Dies illi lucem infundit, nox eripit; sic istis, quae a nobis indifferentia ac media dicuntur, divitiis, viribus, formae, honoribus, regno et contra morti, exilio, malae valetudini,doloribus quaeque alia aut minus aut magis pertimuimus, aut malitia aut virtus dat boni vel mali nomen.
Day pours light into it, night snatches it away; so to those things which are called indifferent and middle by us, such as riches, strength, beauty, honors, kingdom, and on the other hand death, exile, ill health, pain, and whatever else we have feared either less or more, either malice or virtue gives the name of good or evil.
Massa per se nec calida nec frigida est; in fornacem coniecta concaluit, in aquam demissa refrixit.
A mass in itself is neither hot nor cold; thrown into a furnace it grows hot, let down into water it grows cold.
Mors honesta est per illud, quod honestum est, id est virtus et animus extrema contemnens.
Death is honorable through that which is honorable, that is, virtue and a mind despising extreme things.
§82.15Est et horum, Lucili, quae appellamus media, grande discrimen.
There is also, Lucilius, a great difference among these things which we call middle.
Non enim sic mors indifferens est, quomodo utrum capillos pares an inpares habeas.
For death is not indifferent in the same way as whether you have an even or odd number of hairs.
Mors inter illa est, quae mala quidem non sunt, tamen habent mali speciem; sui amor est et permanendi conservandique se insita voluntas atque aspernatio dissolutionis, quia videtur multa nobis bona eripere et nos ex hac, cui adsuevimus, rerum copia educere.
Death is among those things which, while indeed they are not evils, yet have the appearance of evil; there is a love of oneself and an inborn will to remain and preserve oneself, and a rejection of dissolution, because it seems to snatch many goods from us and to lead us out from this abundance of things to which we have been accustomed.
Illa quoque res morti nos alienat, quod haec iam novimus, illa, ad quae transituri sumus, nescimus, qualia sint, et horremus ignota.
This thing also alienates us from death, that we already know these present things, but we do not know of what sort those things are to which we are about to transition, and we shudder at the unknown.
Naturalis praeterea tenebrarum metus est, in quas adductura mors creditur.
There is besides a natural fear of darkness, into which death is believed to lead us.
§82.16Itaque etiam si indifferens mors est, non tamen ea est, quae facile neglegi possit.
Therefore, even if death is indifferent, yet it is not such a thing as can be easily neglected.
Magna exercitatione durandus est animus, ut conspectum eius accessumque patiatur.
The mind must be hardened by great training so that it may endure the sight and approach of it.
Mors contemni debet magis quam solet.
Death ought to be despised more than it usually is.
Multa enim de illa credidimus.
For we have believed many things about it.
Multorum ingeniis certatum est ad augendam eius infamiam.
The talents of many have competed to increase its infamy.
Descriptus est carcer infernus et perpetua nocte oppressa regio, in qua Ingens ianitor Orci Ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento, Aeternum latrans exsangues terreat umbras. Etiam cum persuaseris istas fabulas esse nec quicquam defunctis superesse, quod timeant, subit alius metus.
An infernal prison has been described, and a region oppressed by perpetual night, where "the huge gatekeeper of Orcus, lying over half-eaten bones in his bloody cave, terrifying the bloodless shades with eternal barking." Even when you have persuaded yourself that these are fables and that nothing remains for the dead to fear, another fear steals in.
Aeque enim timent, ne apud inferos sint, quam ne nusquam.
For they fear equally lest they be in the underworld, as lest they be nowhere.
§82.17His adversantibus, quae nobis offundit longa persuasio, fortiter pati mortem quidni gloriosum sit et inter maxima opera mentis humanae? Quae numquam ad virtutem exsurget, si mortem malum esse crediderit;
Against these opposing things, which long persuasion pours over us, why should it not be glorious to endure death bravely, and among the greatest works of the human mind?
exsurget, si putabit indifferens esse.
Which will never rise to virtue if it believes death to be an evil; it will rise if it thinks it to be indifferent.
Non recipit rerum natura, ut aliquis magno animo accedat ad id, quod malum iudicat; pigre veniet et cunctanter.
The nature of things does not admit that someone should approach with a great mind to that which he judges to be an evil; he will come sluggishly and hesitantly.
Non est autem gloriosum, quod ab invito et tergiversante fit; nihil facit virtus, quia necesse est.
But that is not glorious which is done by the unwilling and backward; virtue does nothing because it must.