Sen. 9.1Nē nunc quidem vīrīs dēsīderō adulēscentis, is enim erat locus alter dē vitiīs senectūtis, nōn plūs quam adulēscēns taurī aut elephantī dēsīderābam.Not even now do I miss the strength of a young man — for that was the second heading on the faults of old age — any more than as a young man I missed the strength of a bull or an elephant. Sen. 9.1Quod est, eō decet ūtī et quidquid agis agere prō vīribus.What one has, one ought to use, and whatever one does, to do it in proportion to one's strength. Sen. 9.1Quae enim vōx potest esse contemptior quam Milōnis Crotōniātae?For what utterance can be more contemptible than that of Milo of Croton? Sen. 9.1Quī cum iam senex esset athlētāsque sē exercentīs in curriculō vidēret, aspēxisse lacertōs suōs dīcitur illacrimānsque dīxisse, "at hī quidem mortuī iam sunt."When he was already an old man and saw athletes training on the track, he is said to have looked at his own arms and said, weeping, 'But these are already dead.' Sen. 9.1Nōn vērō tam istī, quam tū ipse, nūgātor, neque enim ex tē umquam es nōbilitātus, sed ex lateribus et lacertīs tuīs.Not so much these, indeed, as you yourself, you trifler, for you were never made famous by your own self, but by your lungs and your arms.
Sen. 9.1Nihil Sex. Aelius tāle, nihil multīs annīs ante Ti. Coruncānius, nihil modo P. Crassus, ā quibus iūra cīvibus praescrībēbantur, quōrum ūsque ad extrēmum spīritum est prōvecta prūdentia.Sextus Aelius said nothing of the kind, nor Tiberius Coruncanius many years before, nor Publius Crassus lately, men by whom laws were laid down for the citizens, and whose wisdom was carried on right up to their last breath. Sen. 9.28Ōrātor metuō nē languēscat senectūte, est enim mūnus eius nōn ingenī sōlum, sed laterum etiam et vīrium.The orator, I fear, may grow feeble with old age, for his task is one not of talent alone but also of lungs and strength. Sen. 9.28Omnīnō canōrum illud in vōce splendēscit etiam nesciō quō pactō in senectūte, quod equidem adhūc nōn āmīsī, et vidētis annōs.Yet that musical ring in the voice even gains brilliance, somehow or other, in old age, and I have not yet lost it, and you see my years. Sen. 9.28Sed tamen est decōrus senī sermō quiētus et remissus, facitque persaepe ipsa sibi audientiam disertī senis composita et mītis ōrātiō, quam sī ipse exsequī nequeās, possīs tamen Scīpiōnī praecipere et Laeliō.But still a quiet and relaxed style of speech befits an old man, and very often the composed and gentle speech of an eloquent old man wins a hearing for itself; and if you cannot carry this out yourself, you can still give instruction to Scipio and Laelius.
Sen. 9.28Quid enim est iūcundius senectūte stīpātā studiīs iuventūtis?For what is more pleasant than old age surrounded by the eager attentions of youth? Sen. 9.29An nē illās quidem vīrīs senectūtī relinquimus, ut adulēscentīs doceat, īnstituat, ad omne officī mūnus īnstruat?Or do we not leave old age even the strength to teach young men, to train them, to equip them for every task of duty? Sen. 9.29Quō quidem opere quid potest esse praeclārius?And what work can be more glorious than that? Sen. 9.29Mihi vērō et Cn. et P. Scīpiōnēs et avī tuī duo L. Aemilius et P. Āfricānus comitātū nōbilium iuvenum fortūnātī vidēbantur, nec ūllī bonārum artium magistrī nōn beātī putandī, quamvīs cōnsenuerint vīrēs atque dēfēcerint.To me, indeed, both Gnaeus and Publius Scipio and your two grandfathers, Lucius Aemilius and Publius Africanus, seemed fortunate in their escort of noble young men; nor should any teachers of the liberal arts be thought other than happy, even though their strength has grown old and failed. Sen. 9.29Etsī ipsa ista dēfectiō vīrium adulēscentiae vitiīs efficitur saepius quam senectūte;And yet that very failing of strength is brought about more often by the vices of youth than by old age; Sen. 9.29libīdinōsa enim et intemperāns adulēscentia effētum corpus trādit senectūtī.for a lustful and intemperate youth hands on a worn-out body to old age.
Sen. 9.30Cyrus quidem apud Xenophontem eō sermōne, quem moriēns habuit, cum admodum senex esset, negat sē umquam sēnsisse senectūtem suam imbēcilliōrem factam quam adulēscentia fuisset.Cyrus, indeed, in Xenophon, in the speech he made when dying, at a very great age, says that he never felt that his old age had become any weaker than his youth had been. Sen. 9.30Ego L. Metellum meminī puer, quī, cum quadrienniō post alterum cōnsulātum pontifex maximus factus esset, vīgintī et duōs annōs eī sacerdōtiō praefuit, ita bonīs esse vīribus extrēmō tempore aetātis, ut adulēscentiam nōn requīreret.I remember, when I was a boy, Lucius Metellus, who, having been made chief pontiff four years after his second consulship, presided over that priesthood for twenty-two years, being of such good strength in the last period of his life that he did not miss his youth. Sen. 9.30Nihil necesse est mihi dē mē ipsō dīcere, quamquam est id quidem senīle aetātīque nostrae concēditur.There is no need for me to speak about myself, although that is indeed characteristic of an old man and is allowed to my age.