§4.1Prosperae res et in plebem ac vilia ingenia deveniunt; at calamitates terroresque mortalium sub iugum mittere proprium magni viri est.
Prosperity comes even to the common people and to base characters; but to bring the calamities and terrors of mortals under the yoke is the peculiar characteristic of a great man.
Semper vero esse felicem et sine morsu animi transire vitam ignorare est rerum naturae alteram partem.
Indeed, to be always happy and to pass through life without a bite of the mind is to be ignorant of the other half of nature.
§4.2Magnus vir es; sed unde scio, si tibi fortuna non dat facultatem exhibendae virtutis? Descendisti ad Olympia, sed nemo praeter te; coronam habes, victoriam non habes.
You are a great man; but how do I know it, if fortune does not give you the opportunity of displaying your virtue? You entered the Olympic games, but no one besides you; you have the crown, but you do not have the victory.
Non gratulor tamquam viro forti, sed tanquam consulatum praeturamve adepto; honore auctus es.
I do not congratulate you as a brave man, but as one who has obtained a consulship or a praetorship; you have been increased in honor.
§4.3Item dicere et bono viro possum, si illi nullam occasionem difficilior casus dedit in qua una vim animi sui ostenderet: “Miserum te iudico, quod numquam fuisti miser.
I can say the same also to a good man, if a more difficult circumstance has given him no opportunity in which alone he might display the strength of his mind: “I judge you miserable because you have never been miserable.
Transisti sine adversario vitam; nemo sciet quid potueris, ne tu quidem ipse. ” Opus est enim ad notitiam sui experimento; quid quisque posset nisi temptando non didicit.
You have passed through life without an adversary; no one will know what you could do, not even you yourself.” For there is need of experience for self-knowledge; no one has learned what he could do except by trying.
Itaque quidam ipsi ultro se cessantibus malis obtulerunt et virtuti iturae in obscurum occasionem per quam enitesceret quaesierunt.
And so some have of their own accord offered themselves to evils when they were ceasing, and have sought an opportunity through which their virtue, which was about to go into obscurity, might shine forth.
§4.4Gaudent, inquam, magni viri aliquando rebus adversis, non aliter quam fortes milites bello.
Great men, I say, sometimes rejoice in adversity, not otherwise than brave soldiers do in war.
Triumphum ego murmillonem sub Tib. Caesare de raritate munerum audivi querentem: "Quam bella," inquit, "aetas perit! "Avida est periculi virtus et quo tendat, non quid passura sit cogitat, quoniam etiam quod passura est gloriae pars est.
I have heard Triumphus, a murmillo under Tiberius Caesar, complaining about the scarcity of games: “What a beautiful age,” he said, “is passing away!” Virtue is greedy for danger, and thinks of where it is tending, not of what it is about to suffer, since even what it is about to suffer is a part of glory.
Militares viri gloriantur vulneribus, laeti fluentem meliori casu sanguinem ostentant; idem licet fecerint qui integri revertuntur ex acie, magis spectatur qui saucius redit.
Military men boast of their wounds; they joyfully show their blood flowing in a better cause; although those who return unhurt from battle may have done the same, he who returns wounded is more gazed upon.
§4.5Ipsis, inquam, deus consulit, quos esse quam honestissimos cupit, quotiens illis materiam praebet aliquid animose fortiterque faciendi, ad quam rem opus est aliqua rerum difficultate.
It is for them, I say, that God provides, whom He wishes to be as honorable as possible, whenever He offers them the material for doing something with spirit and bravery, for which purpose some difficulty of circumstances is necessary.
Gubernatorem in tempestate, in acie militem intellegas.
You may understand the pilot in a storm, the soldier in battle.
Unde possum scire quantum adversus paupertatem tibi animi sit, si divitiis diffluis? Unde possum scire quantum adversus ignominiam et infamiam odiumque populare constantiae habeas, si inter plausus senescis, si te inexpugnabilis et inclinatione quadam mentium pronus favor sequitur? Unde scio quam aequo animo laturus sis orbitatem, si quoscumque sustulisti vides? Audivi te, cum alios consolareris: tunc conspexissem, si te ipse consolatus esses, si te ipse dolere vetuisses.
How can I know how much spirit you have against poverty, if you overflow with riches? How can I know how much constancy you have against ignominy and infamy and popular hatred, if you grow old amid applause, if an impregnable favor, prone by a certain inclination of minds, follows you? How do I know with how calm a mind you will bear bereavement, if you see all whom you have reared? I have heard you when you were consoling others; then I would have beheld you, if you had consoled yourself, if you had forbidden yourself to grieve.
§4.6Nolite, obsecro vos, expavescere ista, quae dii immortales velut stimulos admovent animis: calamitas virtutis occasio est.
Do not, I beseech you, dread those things which the immortal gods apply to our minds like spurs: calamity is the opportunity of virtue.
Illos merito quis dixerit miseros qui nimia felicitate torpescunt, quos velut in mari lento tranquillitas iners detinet; quicquid illis inciderit, novum veniet.
One might deservedly call those miserable who grow torpid through excessive good fortune, whom an inert tranquility detains as if in a sluggish sea; whatever falls upon them will come as a novelty.
§4.7Magis urgent saeva inexpertos, grave est tenerae cervici iugum.
Harsh things press harder upon the inexperienced; a yoke is heavy to a tender neck.
Ad suspicionem vulneris tiro pallescit, audacter veteranus cruorem suum spectat, qui scit se saepe vicisse post sanguinem.
At the suspicion of a wound the recruit turns pale, but the veteran looks boldly upon his own blood, since he knows that he has often conquered after shedding blood.
Hos itaque deus quos probat, quos amat, indurat, recognoscit, exercet; eos autem quibus indulgere videtur, quibus parcere, molles Venturis malis servat.
Therefore, those whom God approves, whom He loves, He hardens, inspects, and exercises; but those to whom He seems to be indulgent, whom He seems to spare, He keeps soft for coming evils.
Erratis enim, si quem iudicatis exceptum.
For you are mistaken if you judge anyone to be exempt.
Veniet et ad illum diu felicem sua portio; quisquis videtur dimissus esse, dilatus est.
His own share will come even to that man who has long been happy; whoever seems to have been dismissed has only been delayed.
Quare deus optimum quemque aut mala valetudine aut luctu aut aliis incommodis afficit?
Why does God afflict every best man either with ill health, or with grief, or with other inconveniences?