Amic. 2.1FANNIUS.FANNIUS. Amic. 2.1Sunt ista, Laelī;That is so, Laelius; Amic. 2.1nec enim melior vir fuit Āfricānō quisquam nec clārior.for there was never any man better or more illustrious than Africanus. Amic. 2.1Sed exīstimāre dēbēs omnium oculōs in tē esse coniectōs ūnum;But you ought to consider that the eyes of all are turned upon you alone; Amic. 2.1tē sapientem et appellant et exīstimant.it is you whom they both call and consider wise. Amic. 2.1Tribuēbātur hōc modō M. Catōnī, scīmus L. Acīlium apud patrēs nostrōs appellātum esse sapientem, sed uterque aliō quōdam modō: Acīlius quia prūdēns esse in iūre cīvīlī putābātur, Catō quia multārum rērum ūsum habēbat et multa eius et in senātū et in forō vel prōvīsa prūdenter vel ācta cōnstanter vel respōnsa acūtē ferēbantur;This title was recently given to Marcus Cato, and we know that in our fathers' time Lucius Acilius was called wise, but each in a somewhat different sense: Acilius because he was thought to be skilled in civil law, Cato because he had experience of many things, and many instances of his wise foresight, firm action or shrewd replies, both in the senate and in the forum, were reported; Amic. 2.1proptereā quasi cognōmen iam habēbat in senectūte sapientis.for that reason in his old age he had by now 'the Wise' almost as a surname.
Amic. 2.7Tē autem aliō quōdam modō nōn sōlum nātūrā et mōribus, vērum etiam studiō et doctrīnā esse sapientem, nec sīcut volgus, sed ut ērudītī solent appellāre sapientem, quālem in Graeciā reliquā nēminem—nam quī septem appellantur, eōs quī ista subtīlius quaerunt in numerō sapientium nōn habent—Athēnīs ūnum accēpimus et eum quidem etiam Apollinis ōrāculō sapientissimum iūdicātum.But you they consider wise in a somewhat different sense, not only by nature and character but also by study and learning, and not as the common people use the word, but as learned men are accustomed to call a man wise, such as we have heard of no one in the rest of Greece (for those who are called the Seven are not counted among the wise by those who examine these matters more precisely), but of one man only at Athens, and he indeed judged wisest of all even by the oracle of Apollo. Amic. 2.7Hanc esse in tē sapientiam exīstimant, ut omnia tua in tē posita esse dūcās hūmānōsque cāsūs virtūte īnferiōrēs putēs.They think this is the wisdom in you, that you regard all that is yours as resting within yourself, and consider the chances of human life inferior to virtue.
Amic. 2.7Itaque ex mē quaerunt, crēdō ex hōc item Scaevolā, quōnam pactō mortem Āfricānī ferās, eōque magis quod proximīs Nōnīs, cum in hortōs D. Brūtī auguris commentandī causā, ut assolet, vēnissēmus, tū nōn affuistī, quī dīligentissimē semper illum diem et illud mūnus solitus essēs obīre.And so they ask me, and I believe they ask Scaevola here too, how you are bearing the death of Africanus, all the more because on the last Nones, when we had come to the gardens of Decimus Brutus the augur to deliberate, as is the custom, you were not present, though you had always been accustomed to attend that day and that duty most scrupulously. Amic. 2.8SCAEVOLA.SCAEVOLA. Amic. 2.8Quaerunt quidem, C. Laelī, multum, ut est ā Fanniō dictum, sed ego id respondeō, quod animum advertī, tē dolōrem quem accēperīs cum summī virī tum amīcissimī morte ferre moderātē;They do indeed ask a great deal, Gaius Laelius, as Fannius has said, but I give the answer I have observed to be true, that you are bearing with moderation the grief you have suffered at the death of one who was both a very great man and your dearest friend; Amic. 2.8nec potuisse nōn commovērī, nec fuisse id hūmānitātis tuae: quod autem Nōnīs in collēgiō nostrō nōn affuissēs, valētūdinem respondeō causam, nōn maestitiam fuisse.that you could not fail to be moved, and that not to be moved would not have been in keeping with your humanity: but as for your not being present in our college on the Nones, I answer that the cause was ill health, not sorrow.
Amic. 2.8LAELIUS.LAELIUS. Amic. 2.8Rēctē tū quidem, Scaevola, et vērē;You are right indeed, Scaevola, and truthful; Amic. 2.8nec enim ab istō officiō, quod semper ūsurpāvī cum valērem, abdūcī incommodō meō dēbuī, nec ūllō cāsū arbitror hoc cōnstantī hominī posse contingere, ut ūlla intermissiō fīat officī.for I ought not to have been drawn away by any trouble of my own from that duty, which I have always performed when I was well, nor do I think it can happen by any chance to a steadfast man that there should be any interruption of duty. Amic. 2.9Tū autem, Fannī, quod mihi tantum tribuī dīcis, quantum ego nec agnōscō nec postulō, facis amīcē, sed, ut mihi vidēris, nōn rēctē iūdicās dē Catōne.But you, Fannius, in saying that so much is attributed to me, as much as I neither acknowledge nor claim, act like a friend, but, as it seems to me, you do not judge rightly about Cato. Amic. 2.9Aut enim nēmō, quod quidem magis crēdō, aut, sī quisquam, ille sapiēns fuit.For either no one was wise, which indeed I rather believe, or, if anyone was, he was.
Amic. 2.9Quō modō, ut alia omittam, mortem fīlī tulit!How he bore the death of his son, to pass over everything else! Amic. 2.9Memineram Paulum, vīderam Gallum;I remembered Paulus, I had seen Gallus; Amic. 2.9sed hī in puerīs, Catō in perfectō et spectātō virō.but their losses were of boys, Cato's of a man mature and proven. Amic. 2.10Quam ob rem cavē Catōnī antepōnās nē istum quidem ipsum, quem Apollo, ut ais, sapientissimum iūdicāvit;So beware of putting even that very man whom Apollo, as you say, judged wisest above Cato; Amic. 2.10huius enim facta, illīus dicta laudantur.for the deeds of the one, the words of the other, are praised. Amic. 2.10Dē mē autem, ut iam cum utrōque vestrum loquar, sīc habētōte:But concerning myself, to speak now to both of you, take it thus: