§94.1Eam partem philosophiae, quae dat propria cuique personae praecepta _ nec in universum conponit hominem, sed marito suadet quomodo se gerat adversus uxorem, patri quomodo educet liberos, domino quomodo servos regat, quidam solam receperunt, ceteras quasi extra utilitatem nostram vagantes reliquerunt, tamquam quis posset de parte suadere nisi qui summam prius totius vitae complexus est.
Some people have accepted only that part of philosophy which gives precepts proper to each person and does not shape a human being as a whole, but advises a husband how to behave towards his wife, a father how to raise his children, a master how to rule his slaves; and they have left the other parts as if wandering outside our utility, as if anyone could give advice about a part unless he had first grasped the sum of the whole life.
§94.2Sed Ariston Stoicus contrario hanc partem levem existimat et quae non descendat in pectus usque anilia habentem praecepta, plurimum ait proficere ipsa decreta philosophiae constitutionemque summi boni.
But Ariston the Stoic, on the contrary, judges this part to be light and as not descending into the depths of the heart, containing old wives' precepts, and says that the very decrees of philosophy and the constitution of the supreme good are of the greatest benefit.
Quam qui bene intellexit ac didicit, quid in quaque re faciendum sit sibi ipse praecipit.
He who has well understood and learned this prescribes to himself what is to be done in each circumstance.
Quemadmodum qui iaculari discit, destinatum locum captat et manum format ad derigenda quae mittet, eum hanc vim ex disciplina et exercitatione percepit, quocumque vult illa utitur, didicit enim non hoc aut illud ferire, sed quodcumque voluerit: sic qui se ad totam vitam instruxit, non desiderat particulatim admoneri, doctus in totum, non enim quomodo cum uxore aut cum filio viveret, sed quomodo bene viveret.
Just as one who learns to throw a javelin aims at a designated spot and trains his hand to direct what he will hurl, and when he has acquired this power from instruction and practice, uses it wherever he wishes, for he has learned not to hit this or that particular thing, but whatever he has wished; so he who has equipped himself for the whole of life does not desire to be admonished in detail, being taught as a whole—for he has been taught not how he should live with his wife or son, but how he should live well.
§94.3In hoc est et quomodo cum uxore ac liberis vivat.
Within this is also how one should live with a wife and children.
§94.4Cleanthes utilem quidem iudicat et hanc partem, sed inbecillam nisi ab universo fluit, nisi decreta ipsa philosophiae et capita cognovit.
Cleanthes judges this part also to be useful, indeed, but weak unless it flows from the whole, unless it has known the very decrees and head-principles of philosophy.
In duas ergo quaestiones locus iste dividitur: utrum utilis an inutilis sit, et an solus virum bonum possit efficere, id est utrum supervacuus sit an omnes faciat supervacuos.
Therefore, this topic is divided into two questions: whether it is useful or useless, and whether it alone can make a good man—that is, whether it is superfluous, or whether it makes all other things superfluous.
§94.5Qui hanc partem videri volunt supervacuam, hoc aiunt: "Si quid oculis oppositum moratur aciem, removendum est.
Those who want this part to appear superfluous say this: 'If anything placed before the eyes delays the sight, it must be removed.
Illo quidem obiecto operam perdit qui praecipit: sic ambulabis, illo manum porriges. Eodem modo ubi aliqua res occaecat animum et ad officiorum dispiciendum ordinem inpedit, nihil agit qui praecipit: sic vives cum patre, sic cum uxore. Nihil enim proficient praecepta, quamdiu menti error offusus est; si ille discutitur, apparebit, quid cuique debeatur officio.
Indeed, with that obstacle in the way, he who gives precepts wastes his labor: "You shall walk thus, you shall stretch your hand thither." In the same way, when some thing blinds the mind and hinders it from discerning the order of duties, he who gives precepts does nothing: "Thus you shall live with your father, thus with your wife." For precepts will accomplish nothing as long as error is poured over the mind; if that is dispelled, it will appear what is owed to each duty.
Alioqui doces illum, quid sano faciendum sit, non efficis sanum. §94.6Pauperi ut agat divitem monstras;
Otherwise, you are teaching him what a healthy person should do, not making him healthy.' 'You are showing a poor man how to act like a rich man; how can this happen while poverty remains?
hoc quomodo manente paupertate fieri potest? Ostendis esurienti quid tamquam satur faciat; fixam potius medullis famem detrahe. "Idem tibi de omnibus vitiis dico: ipsa removenda sunt, non praecipiendum quod fieri illis manentibus non potest.
You are showing a hungry man what he should do as if he were full; rather, pull out the hunger fixed in his very marrow.' I say the same to you about all vices: they themselves must be removed, not what cannot be done while they remain must be prescribed.
Nisi opiniones falsas, quibus laboramus, expuleris, nec avarus, quomodo pecunia utendum sit, exaudiet, nec timidus, quomodo periculosa contemnat.
Unless you expel the false opinions from which we suffer, neither will the greedy man listen to how money should be used, nor the fearful man to how he should despise dangerous things.
§94.7Efficias oportet, ut sciat pecuniam nec bonum nec malum esse; ostendas illi miserrimos divites.
You must bring it about that he knows that money is neither a good nor an evil; you must show him the most miserable rich men.
Efficias, ut quicquid publice expavimus, sciat non esse tam timendum quam fama circumfert, nec dolere nec mori; saepe in morte, quam pati lex est, magnum esse solacium, quod ad neminem redit; in dolore pro remedio futuram obstinationem animi, qui levius sibi facit, quicquid contumaciter passus est. Optimam doloris esse naturam, quod non potest nec qui extenditur magnus esse nec qui est magnus extendi; omnia fortiter excipienda, quae nobis mundi necessitas imperat.
You must bring it about that he knows that whatever we dread publicly is not so much to be feared as rumor spreads, neither pain nor death; that often in death, to suffer which is a law, there is a great consolation in that it returns to no one; that in pain, the obstinacy of the mind will serve as a remedy, which makes lighter for itself whatever it has suffered defiantly; that the nature of pain is excellent, because it can neither be great if it is prolonged, nor be prolonged if it is great; and that all things which the necessity of the world commands us must be bravely received.
§94.8"His decretis eum illum in conspectum suae condicionis adduxeris et cognoverit beatam esse vitam non quae secundum voluptatem est, sed secundum naturam, cum virtutem unicum bonum hominis adamaverit, turpitudinem solum malum fugerit, reliqua omnia, divitias, honores, bonam valitudinem vires, imperia, scierit esse mediam partem nec bonis adnumerandam nec malis, monitorem non desiderant ad singula, qui dicat: sic incede, sic cena.
'When by these decrees you have led him into the sight of his own condition, and he has known that the happy life is not that which is according to pleasure, but according to nature, when he has come to love virtue as the sole good of man and has fled baseness as the sole evil, and has known that all other things—riches, honors, good health, strength, power—are an intermediate part, to be numbered neither among goods nor among evils, they do not desire a monitor for single details to say: walk thus, dine thus.
Hoc viro hoc feminae, hoc marito hoc caelibi convenit.
This is fitting for a man, this for a woman, this for a husband, this for an unmarried man.'