Ep. 11.1Locūtus est mēcum amīcus tuus bonae indolis, in quō quantum esset animī, quantum ingeniī, quantum iam etiam profectus, sermō prīmus ostendit.A friend of yours of good character has spoken with me; his first conversation showed how much spirit there was in him, how much talent, how much progress already. Ep. 11.1Dedit nōbīs gustum, ad quem respondēbit.He has given us a foretaste, and he will live up to it. Ep. 11.1Nōn enim ex praeparātō locūtus est, sed subitō dēprehēnsus.For he did not speak from preparation, but was caught off guard. Ep. 11.1Ubi sē colligēbat, verēcundiam, bonum in adulēscente signum, vix potuit excutere;When he was collecting himself, he could scarcely shake off his modesty, a good sign in a young man; Ep. 11.1adeō illī ex altō suffūsus est rubor.so deeply did a blush spread over him. Ep. 11.1Hic illum, quantum suspicor, etiam cum sē cōnfirmāverit et omnibus vitiīs exuerit, sapientem quoque sequētur.This, as far as I suspect, will stay with him even when he has strengthened himself and stripped off all his faults, even when he is wise. Ep. 11.1Nūlla enim sapientia nātūrālia corporis vitia pōnuntur.For the natural faults of the body are not laid aside by any wisdom.
Ep. 11.1Quicquid īnfīxum et ingenitum est, lēnītur arte, nōn vincitur.Whatever is implanted and inborn is softened by training, not overcome. Ep. 11.2Quibusdam etiam cōnstantissimīs in cōnspectū populī sūdor ērumpit, nōn aliter quam fatīgātīs et aestuantibus solet, quibusdam tremunt genua dictūrīs, quōrundam dentēs collīduntur, lingua titubat, labra concurrunt.Even in some very steady men sweat breaks out in the sight of the people, just as it usually does in those who are tired and overheated; in some the knees tremble when they are about to speak; in some the teeth chatter, the tongue stumbles, the lips close together. Ep. 11.2Haec nec disciplīna nec ūsus umquam excutit, sed nātūra vim suam exercet et illō vitiō suī etiam rōbustissimōs admonet.These things neither training nor practice ever shakes off, but nature exerts its own power and by that weakness reminds even the strongest of itself. Ep. 11.3Inter haec esse et rubōrem sciō, quī gravissimīs quoque virīs subitus adfunditur.Among these I know that the blush too is to be counted, which floods suddenly over even the most dignified men. Ep. 11.3Magis quidem in iuvenibus appāret, quibus et plūs calōris est et tenera frōns;It shows more, indeed, in the young, who have more heat and a tender brow; Ep. 11.3Nihilōminus et veterānōs et senēs tangit.nonetheless it touches both veterans and old men.
Ep. 11.3Quīdam numquam magis, quam cum ērubuerint, timendī sunt, quasi omnem verēcundiam effūderint.Some are never more to be feared than when they have blushed, as if they had poured out all their sense of shame. Ep. 11.4Sulla tunc erat violentissimus, cum faciem eius sanguis invāserat.Sulla was at his most violent when blood had rushed into his face. Ep. 11.4Nihil erat mollius ōre Pompēī;Nothing was softer than the face of Pompey; Ep. 11.4numquam nōn cōram plūribus rubuit, utique in contiōnibus.he never failed to blush in front of a number of people, especially at public assemblies. Ep. 11.4Fabiānum, cum in senātum testis esset inductus, ērubuisse meminī, et hic illum mīrē pudor decuit.I remember that Fabianus blushed when he had been brought into the senate as a witness, and this modesty became him wonderfully. Ep. 11.5Nōn accidit hoc ab īnfirmitāte mentis, sed ā novitāte reī, quae inexercitātōs, etiamsī nōn concutit, movet nātūrālī in hoc facilitāte corporis prōnōs.This does not happen from weakness of mind but from the novelty of the situation, which, even if it does not shake the unpractised, does move them, inclined as they are to it by a natural susceptibility of the body.
Ep. 11.5Nam ut quīdam bonī sanguinis sunt, ita quīdam incitātī et mōbilis et citō in ōs prōdeuntis.For just as some men are of good blood, so some are of blood that is quick and lively and rises swiftly to the face. Ep. 11.6Haec, ut dīxī, nūlla sapientia abigit;These things, as I said, no wisdom drives away; Ep. 11.6aliōquīn habēret rērum nātūram sub imperiō, sī omnia ērāderet vitia.otherwise it would hold the nature of things under its command, if it erased all faults. Ep. 11.6Quaecumque adtribuit condiciō nāscendī et corporis temperātum, cum multum sē diūque animus conposuerit, haerēbunt.Whatever the conditions of birth and the temperament of the body have assigned will cling, however much and however long the mind has composed itself. Ep. 11.6Nihil hōrum vetārī potest, nōn magis quam accersī.None of these can be forbidden, any more than summoned. Ep. 11.7Artificēs scaenicī, quī imitantur adfectūs, quī metum et trepidātiōnem exprimunt, quī trīstitiam repraesentant, hōc indiciō imitantur verēcundiam: dēiciunt enim vultum, verba submittunt, fīgunt in terram oculōs et dēprimunt.Actors on the stage, who imitate the emotions, who portray fear and trembling, who represent sadness, imitate modesty by this sign: they lower their faces, soften their words, fix their eyes on the ground and keep them down.
Ep. 11.7Rubōrem sibi exprimere nōn possunt;A blush they cannot force out of themselves; Ep. 11.7nec prohibētur hic nec addūcitur.it is neither prevented nor brought on. Ep. 11.7Nihil adversus haec sapientia prōmittit, nihil prōficit;Against these things wisdom promises nothing, achieves nothing; Ep. 11.7suī iūris sunt, iniussa veniunt, iniussa discēdunt.they are their own masters: they come unbidden, they depart unbidden. Ep. 11.8Iam clausulam epistula poscit.Now the letter demands its closing phrase. Ep. 11.8Accipe, et quidem ūtilem ac salūtārem, quam tē affīgere animō volō: "Aliquis vir bonus nōbīs dīligendus est ac semper ante oculōs habendus, ut sīc tamquam illō spectante vīvāmus et omnia tamquam illō vidente faciāmus."Take one, and a useful and wholesome one at that, which I want you to fix in your mind: 'We should cherish some good man and keep him always before our eyes, so that we may live as if he were watching and do everything as if he saw it.' Ep. 11.9Hoc, mī Lūcīlī, Epicūrus praecēpit.This, my Lucilius, is what Epicurus advised. Ep. 11.9Custōdem nōbīs et paedagōgum dedit, nec immeritō.He has given us a guardian and a tutor, and not without reason.
Ep. 11.9Magna pars peccātōrum tollitur, sī peccātūrīs testis adsistit.A great part of wrongdoing is removed if a witness stands by those about to do wrong. Ep. 11.9Aliquem habeat animus, quem vereātur, cuius auctōritāte etiam sēcrētum suum sānctius faciat.Let the mind have someone whom it reveres, by whose authority it may make even its private life more sacred. Ep. 11.9Ō fēlīcem illum, quī nōn praesēns tantum, sed etiam cōgitātus ēmendat!Happy the man who improves others not only when present but even when thought of! Ep. 11.9Ō fēlīcem, quī sīc aliquem verērī potest, ut ad memoriam quoque eius sē conpōnat atque ōrdinet!Happy the man who can so revere someone that even at the memory of him he composes and orders himself! Ep. 11.9Quī sīc aliquem verērī potest, citō erit verendus.He who can so revere another will soon be worthy of reverence himself. Ep. 11.10Ēlige itaque Catōnem.Choose, then, Cato. Ep. 11.10Sī hic tibi vidētur nimis rigidus, ēlige remissiōris animī virum Laelium.If he seems to you too stern, choose a man of gentler spirit, Laelius. Ep. 11.10Ēlige eum, cuius tibi placuit et vīta et ōrātiō et ipse animum ante sē ferēns vultus;Choose one whose life and speech, and whose very face, showing the mind behind it, have pleased you; Ep. 11.10illum tibi semper ostende vel custōdem vel exemplum.hold him always before you, as guardian or as example.
Ep. 11.10Opus est, inquam, aliquō, ad quem mōrēs nostrī sē ipsī exigant;We need, I say, someone against whom our characters may measure themselves; Ep. 11.10nisi ad rēgulam prāva nōn corrigēs.except with a ruler you will not straighten what is crooked. Ep. 11.10Valē.Farewell.