Ep. 8.9.1Ōlim nōn librum in manūs, nōn stilum sūmpsī, ōlim nesciō quid sit ōtium quid quiēs, quid dēnique illud iners quidem, iūcundum tamen nihil agere nihil esse: adeō multa mē negōtia amīcōrum nec sēcēdere nec studēre patiuntur.It is long since I took a book in hand or a pen, long since I knew what leisure is, what rest is, what, in short, is that idle but pleasant state of doing nothing and being nothing: so much do the many affairs of my friends keep me from either retiring or studying. Ep. 8.9.2Nūlla enim studia tantī sunt, ut amīcitiae officium dēserātur, quod religiōsissime custōdiendum studia ipsa praecipiunt.For no studies are worth so much that the duty of friendship should be abandoned, which those very studies teach must be most scrupulously preserved. Ep. 8.9.2Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 8 › Pliny, Letter 8.9
Pliny · Epistulae VIII
Pliny, Letter 8.9
Friends' business crowds out study
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: indirect statement ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (43 words)
| ōlim, adv. | once upon a time, once, formerly, of old |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| liber, librī m. | book; record |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| manus, -ūs, f. | hand |
| stilus, -ī m. | a pointed stake, a caltrop set in the ground against attackers |
| sūmō, sūmere, sūmpsī, sūmptus | take under or up, take; poenam sūmere, to exact or inflict punishment |
| nesciō, -scīre, -scīvī | not know, be ignorant; nesciō quis, I know not who, some one or other (nesciō is thus used with other interrogative words also) |
| quis, quid, interrog. pron. | who? which? what? |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| ōtium, -ī n. | leisure, rest; peace, quiet |
| quiēs, quiētis, f. | rest, repose |
| dēnique, adv. | lastly, finally |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| iners, -ertis | sluggish, idle, unmanly |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| iūcundus, -a, -um | sweet, pleasant |
| tamen, adv. | however, yet, nevertheless |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| agō, agere, ēgī, āctus | drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia |
| adeō (adv.) | so far, to such a degree; so |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| negōtium, -ī, n. | business, matter; task, trouble, difficulty |
| amīcus, -ī, m. | friend |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| sēcēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | go apart, withdraw |
| studeō, -ēre, -uī | be eager, give attention, apply oneself |
| patior, patī, passus, bear | suffer, allow |
| nūllus, -a, -um | not any, none, no |
| enim, conj. | for |
| studium, -ī, n. | eagerness, zeal; study, pursuit |
| tantus, -a, -um | so great or much |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| amīcitia, -ae f. | friendship, alliance |
| officium, -ī, n. | service; duty |
| dēserō, -serere, -seruī, -sertus | desert |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| religiōsus, -a, -um | devout, scrupulous in religion |
| custōdiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | guard |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| praecipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take beforehand, anticipate; order, charge |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
Pliny, Epistulae VIII. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.