§4.8Quia in castris quoque periculosa fortissimis imperantur; dux lectissimos mittit, qui nocturnis hostes aggrediantur insidiis aut explorent iter aut praesidium loco deiciant.
For in a camp too, the most dangerous duties are commanded to the bravest; the general sends the choicest men to attack the enemy in nocturnal ambushes, or to reconnoiter the road, or to dislodge a garrison from its post.
Nemo eorum qui exeunt dicit: "Male de me imperator meruit," sed "bene iudicavit. "Item dicant quicumque iubentur pati timidis ignavisque flebilia: "Digni visi sumus deo in quibus experiretur quantum humana natura posset pati. " §4.9Fugite delicias, fugite enervantem felicitatem, qua animi permadescunt et nisi aliquid intervenit quod humanae sortis admoneat, manent velut perpetua ebrietate sopiti.
No one of those who go out says, "The commander has deserved ill of me," but "He has judged well." Likewise let all who are ordered to suffer what is tearful to the fearful and cowardly say: "We have seemed worthy to God in whom He might try how much human nature could endure." Flee luxury, flee enervating good fortune, by which minds grow soggy, and unless something intervenes to remind them of the human lot, they remain as if asleep in a perpetual drunkenness.
Quem specularia semper ab afflatu vindicaverunt, cuius pedes inter fomenta subinde mutata tepuerunt, cuius cenationes subditus et parietibus circumfusus calor temperavit, hunc levis aura non sine periculo stringet.
The man whom window-panes have always protected from the blast, whose feet have grown warm amid poultices repeatedly changed, whose dining rooms a heat placed beneath and spread around the walls has tempered, this man a light breeze will not touch without danger.
§4.10Cum omnia quae excesserunt modum noceant, periculosissima felicitatis intemperantia est: movet cerebrum, in vanas mentes imagines evocat, multum inter falsum ac verum mediae caliginis fundit.
Since everything that has exceeded moderation is harmful, the intemperance of good fortune is the most dangerous: it agitates the brain, evokes phantoms in empty minds, and pours a great deal of intervening mist between the false and the true.
Quidni satius sit perpetuam infelicitatem advocata virtute sustinere quam infinitis atque immodicis bonis rumpi? Lenior ieiunio mors est, cruditate dissiliunt.
Why should it not be better to endure perpetual misfortune with virtue summoned to our aid, than to be burst by infinite and immoderate goods? Death by hunger is gentler; men burst from indigestion.
§4.11Hanc itaque rationem dii sequuntur in bonis viris quam in discipulis suis praeceptores, qui plus laboris ab is exigunt, in quibus certior spes est.
Therefore, the gods follow this principle with good men which teachers do with their pupils, who demand more labor from those in whom there is a surer hope.
Numquid tu invisos esse Lacedaemoniis liberos suos credis, quorum experiuntur indolem publice verberibus admotis? Ipsi illos patres adhortantur, ut ictus flagellorum fortiter perferant, et laceros ac semianimes rogant, perseverent vulnera praebere vulneribus.
Do you believe that their children are hated by the Lacedaemonians, whose character they test by applying lashes publicly? The fathers themselves exhort them to bear the blows of the whips bravely, and ask them, torn and half-dead, to persevere in offering wounds to wounds.
§4.12Quid mirum, si dure generosos spiritus deus temptat? Numquam virtutis molle documentum est.
What wonder is it if God tests noble spirits severely? There is never a soft proof of virtue.
Verberat nos et lacerat fortuna;
Fortune lashes and tears us; let us endure it!
patiamur! Non est saevitia, certamen est, quod quo saepius adierimus, fortiores erimus.
It is not cruelty, it is a contest, which the more often we enter, the stronger we shall be.
Solidissima corporis pars est quam frequens usus agitavit.
The most solid part of the body is that which frequent use has exercised.
Praebendi fortunae sumus, ut contra illam ab ipsa duremur; paulatim nos sibi pares faciet, contemptum periculorum adsiduitas periclitandi dabit.
We must offer ourselves to fortune, so that we may be hardened by her against her; gradually she will make us equal to herself, and the constant exposure to danger will give us a contempt for dangers.
§4.13Sic sunt nauticis corpora ferendo mari dura, agricolis manus tritae, ad excutienda tela militares lacerti valent, agilia Sunt membra cursoribus; id in quoque solidissimum est quod exercuit.
Thus for sailors, bodies are tough from bearing the sea, for farmers, hands are worn, for throwing weapons, military arms are strong, and limbs are agile for runners; in each person, that part is most solid which he has exercised.
Ad contemnendam patientiam malorum animus patientia pervenit; quae quid in nobis efficere possit scies, si aspexeris quantum nationibus nudis et inopia fortioribus labor praestet.
The mind arrives at the contempt of enduring evils by enduring itself; what this can effect in us you will know, if you look at how much labor achieves for naked nations and those made stronger by want.
§4.14Omnes considera gentes in quibus Romana pax desinit.
Consider all the nations in which the Roman peace ends.
Germanos dico et quicquid circa Histrum vagarum gentium occursat.
I mean the Germans and whatever wandering tribes occur around the Danube.
Perpetua illos hiemps, triste caelum premit, maligne solum sterile sustentat; imbrem culmo aut fronde defendunt, super durata glacie stagna persultant, in alimentum feras captant.
Perpetual winter and a gloomy sky oppress them, a sterile soil grudgingly sustains them; they ward off the rain with thatch or foliage, they gallop over marshes on hardened ice, and they capture wild beasts for food.
§4.15Miseri tibi videntur? Nihil miserum est quod in naturam consuetudo perduxit; paulatim enim voluptati sunt quae necessitate coeperunt.
Do they seem miserable to you? Nothing is miserable which custom has turned into nature; for gradually those things which began from necessity become a pleasure.
Nulla illis domicilia nullaeque sedes sunt nisi quas lassitudo in diem posuit; vilis et hic quaerendus manu victus, horrenda iniquitas caeli, intecta corpora; hoc quod tibi calamitas videtur tot gentium vita est! Quid miraris bonos viros, ut confirmentur, concuti?
They have no dwellings and no homes except those which weariness has established for the day; their food is cheap and must be sought by hand, the severity of the climate is horrendous, their bodies are uncovered; this which seems a calamity to you is the life of so many nations! Why do you wonder that good men are shaken, in order that they may be strengthened?
§4.16Non est arbor solida nec fortis nisi in quam frequens ventus incursat; ipsa enim vexatione constringitur et radices certius figit; fragiles sunt quae in aprica valle creverunt.
No tree is solid or strong unless a frequent wind blows against it; for by the very shaking it is tightened and fixes its roots more securely; those are fragile which have grown in a sunny valley.
Pro ipsis ergo bonis viris est, ut esse interriti possint, multum inter formidolosa versari et aequo animo ferre quae non sunt mala nisi male sustinenti.
Therefore, it is for the benefit of the good men themselves, so that they may be fearless, to live much among terrifying things and to bear with a calm mind what are not evils except to him who bears them badly.