§6.1"Sed refert," inquis, "an ad illam voluptatis causa accesseris nihil aliud ex illa petens quam adsiduam contemplationem sine exitu; est enim dulcis et habet inlecebras suas. "Adversus hoc tibi respondeo: aeque refert, quo animo civilem agas vitam, an semper inquietus sis nec tibi umquam sumas ullum tempus, quo ab humanis ad divina respicias.
"But," you say, "it matters whether you have approached it for the sake of pleasure, seeking nothing else from it than constant contemplation without end; for it is sweet and has its own allurements." To this I answer you: it matters equally with what mind you lead a civic life, whether you are always restless and never take any time for yourself to look back from human things to divine things.
§6.2Quomodo res adpetere sine ullo virtutum amore et sine cultu ingeni ac nudas edere operas minime probabile est — misceri enim ista inter se et conseri debent—, sic imperfectum ac languidum bonum est in otium sine actu proiecta virtus, numquam id, quod didicit, ostendens.
Just as it is by no means commendable to pursue affairs without any love of virtues and without the cultivation of the mind, and to produce bare works—for those things ought to be mixed and woven together—, so virtue cast into leisure without action, never showing what she has learned, is an imperfect and sluggish good.
§6.3Quis negat illam debere profectus suos in opere temptare, nec tantum quid faciendum sit cogitare, sed etiam aliquando manum exercere et ea, quae meditata sunt, ad verum perducere? Quodsi per ipsum sapientem non est mora, si non actor deest, sed agenda desunt, ecquid illi secum esse permittes?
Who denies that she ought to test her progress in action, and not only think about what should be done, but also sometimes exercise her hand and bring into reality those things which have been meditated upon? But if there is no delay on the part of the wise man himself, if it is not the actor who is lacking, but things to be done, will you allow him at all to be with himself?
§6.4Quo animo ad otium sapiens secedit? Ut sciat se tum quoque ea acturum, per quae posteris prosit.
With what mind does the wise man withdraw into leisure? So that he may know that he will then also do those things by which he may benefit posterity.
Nos certe sumus qui dicimus et Zenonem et Chrysippum maiora egisse, quam si duxissent exercitus, gessissent honores, leges tulissent.
We certainly are the ones who say that both Zeno and Chrysippus accomplished greater things than if they had led armies, held public offices, or passed laws.
Quas non uni civitati, sed toti humano generi tulerunt.
Which laws they passed not for a single state, but for the entire human race.
Quid est ergo, quare tale otium non conveniat viro bono, per quod futura saecula ordinet nec apud paucos contionetur, sed apud omnis omnium gentium homines, quique sunt quique erunt?
What is there, then, why such leisure should not suit a good man, through which he may order future ages and speak not before a few, but before all humans of all nations, both those who are and those who will be?
§6.5Ad summam quaero, an ex praeceptis suis vixerint Cleanthes et Chrysippus et Zenon.
In short, I ask whether Cleanthes, Chrysippus, and Zeno lived according to their own precepts.
Non dubie respondebis sic illos vixisse, quemadmodum dixerant esse vivendum.
Undoubtedly you will answer that they lived in the very manner in which they had said one ought to live.
Atqui nemo illorum rem publicam administravit.
And yet not one of them administered a republic.
"Non fuit," inquis, "illis aut ea fortuna aut ea dignitas, quae admitti ad publicarum rerum tractationem solet. "Sed idem nihilo minus non segnem egere vitam; invenerunt, quemadmodum plus quies ipsorum hominibus prodesset quam aliorum discursus et sudor.
"There was not for them," you say, "either that fortune or that dignity which is accustomed to be admitted to the handling of public affairs." But nonetheless, those same men did not lead a sluggish life; they discovered how much more their own quiet benefited human beings than the running about and sweat of others.
Ergo nihilo minus hi multum egisse visi sunt, quamvis nihil publice agerent.
Therefore, nonetheless, these men seemed to have accomplished much, although they did nothing publicly.