Ep. 14.1Fateor īnsitam esse nōbīs corporis nostrī cāritātem;I admit that a love for our body is implanted in us; Ep. 14.1fateor nōs huius gerere tūtēlam.I admit that we have the charge of its guardianship. Ep. 14.1Nōn negō indulgendum illī;I do not deny that we should indulge it; Ep. 14.1serviendum negō.I deny that we should be its slaves. Ep. 14.1Multīs enim serviet, quī corporī servit, quī prō illō nimium timet, quī ad illud omnia refert.For he will be slave to many who is slave to his body, who fears too much for it, who refers everything to it. Ep. 14.2Sīc gerere nōs dēbēmus, nōn tamquam propter corpus vīvere dēbeāmus, sed tamquam nōn possīmus sine corpore.We ought to conduct ourselves not as if we ought to live for the sake of the body, but as if we could not live without the body. Ep. 14.2Huius nōs nimius amor timōribus inquiētat, sollicitūdinibus onerat, contumēliīs obicit.Excessive love of it disturbs us with fears, burdens us with anxieties, exposes us to insults. Ep. 14.2Honestum eī vīle est, cui corpus nimis cārum est.What is honourable is cheap to the man to whom the body is too dear.
Ep. 14.2Agātur eius dīligentissimē cūra, ita tamen, ut cum exiget ratiō, cum dignitās, cum fidēs, mittendum in ignēs sit.Let the care of it be taken most diligently, but in such a way that, when reason, when dignity, when loyalty demands, it must be sent into the flames. Ep. 14.3Nihilōminus, quantum possumus, ēvītēmus incommoda quoque, nōn tantum perīcula, et in tūtum nōs redūcāmus excōgitantēs subinde, quibus possint timenda dēpellī.Nevertheless, as far as we can, let us avoid discomforts as well, not only dangers, and withdraw into safety, constantly thinking out how the things to be feared can be driven off. Ep. 14.3Quōrum tria, nisi fallor, genera sunt: timētur inopia, timentur morbī, timentur quae per vim potentiōris ēveniunt.There are, unless I am mistaken, three kinds of these: want is feared, diseases are feared, and what happens through the violence of someone more powerful is feared. Ep. 14.4Ex hīs omnibus nihil nōs magis concutit, quam quod ex aliēnā potentiā inpendet.Of all these nothing shakes us more than what hangs over us from another's power. Ep. 14.4Magnō enim strepitū et tumultū venit.For it comes with great noise and uproar.
Ep. 14.4Nātūrālia mala quae rettulī, inopia atque morbus, silentiō subeunt nec oculīs nec auribus quicquam terrōris incutiunt.The natural evils I mentioned, want and disease, steal upon us in silence and strike no terror into eyes or ears. Ep. 14.4Ingēns alterīus malī pompa est.The other evil comes with a huge procession. Ep. 14.4Ferrum circā sē et ignēs habet et catēnās et turbam ferārum, quam in viscera inmittat hūmāna.It has around it sword and fire and chains and a pack of wild beasts to let loose on human entrails. Ep. 14.5Cōgitā hōc locō carcerem et crucēs et eculeōs et uncum et adāctum per medium hominem, quī per ōs ēmergeret, stīpitem et distracta in dīversum āctīs curribus membra, illam tunicam alimentīs ignium et inlitam et textam, et quicquid aliud praeter haec commenta saevitia est.Think in this connection of the prison and crosses and racks and the hook, and the stake driven right through a man so that it comes out through his mouth, and limbs torn apart by chariots driven in opposite directions, that tunic both smeared and woven with things that feed fire, and whatever else cruelty has devised besides these. Ep. 14.6Nōn est itaque mīrum, sī maximus huius reī timor est, cuius et varietās magna et apparātus terribilis est.It is not surprising, then, if the fear of this is greatest, since its variety is great and its apparatus terrible.
Ep. 14.6Nam quemadmodum plūs agit tortor, quō plūra īnstrūmenta dolōris exposuit (speciē enim vincuntur quī patientiā restitissent);For just as the torturer achieves more the more instruments of pain he has laid out (for people are overcome by the sight who would have held out through endurance); Ep. 14.6ita ex iīs, quae animōs nostrōs subigunt et domant, plūs prōficiunt, quae habent quod ostendant.so of the things that subdue and tame our minds, those achieve more which have something to show. Ep. 14.6Illae pestēs nōn minus gravēs sunt, famem dīcō et sitim et praecordiōrum subpūrātiōnēs et febrem viscera ipsa torrentem.Those other plagues are no less serious, I mean hunger and thirst and abscesses of the chest and fever that scorches the very entrails. Ep. 14.6Sed latent, nihil habent quod intentent, quod praeferant;But they lie hidden; they have nothing to brandish, nothing to display; Ep. 14.6haec ut magna bella aspectū apparātūque vīcērunt.these, like great wars, have conquered by their look and their array. Ep. 14.7Dēmus itaque operam, abstineāmus offēnsīs.Let us take pains, then, to keep clear of giving offence. Ep. 14.7Interdum populus est, quem timēre dēbeāmus;Sometimes it is the people whom we ought to fear; Ep. 14.7interdum sī ea cīvitātis disciplīna est, ut plūrima per senātum trānsigantur, grātiōsī in eō virī;sometimes, if the constitution of the state is such that most business is transacted through the senate, the men of influence in it; Ep. 14.7interdum singulī, quibus potestās populī et in populum data est.sometimes individuals to whom the power of the people, and power over the people, has been given.
Ep. 14.7Hōs omnēs amīcōs habēre operōsum est, satis est inimīcōs nōn habēre.To have all these as friends is laborious; it is enough not to have them as enemies. Ep. 14.7Itaque sapiēns numquam potentium īrās prōvocābit, immō dēclīnābit, nōn aliter quam in nāvigandō procellam.And so the wise man will never provoke the anger of the powerful; rather he will steer clear of it, just as of a storm in sailing. Ep. 14.8Cum peterēs Siciliam, trāiēcistī fretum.When you were making for Sicily, you crossed the strait. Ep. 14.8Temerārius gubernātor contempsit austrī minās, ille est enim, quī Siculum pelagus exasperet et in verticēs cōgat;The reckless pilot scorned the threats of the south wind, for that is the wind that roughens the Sicilian sea and drives it into whirlpools; Ep. 14.8nōn sinistrum petit lītus, sed id, ā quō propior Charybdis maria convolvit.he makes not for the left-hand shore but for the one near which Charybdis churns up the seas. Ep. 14.8At ille cautior perītōs locōrum rogat, Quis aestus sit, quae signa dent nūbēs;But the more cautious one asks those who know the area what the tide is, what signs the clouds give; Ep. 14.8longē ab illā regiōne verticibus īnfāmī cursum tenet.he holds his course far from that region notorious for whirlpools.
Ep. 14.8Idem facit sapiēns;The wise man does the same; Ep. 14.8nocitūram potentiam vītat, hoc prīmum cavēns, nē vītāre videātur.he avoids power that will harm him, taking care above all not to be seen to avoid it. Ep. 14.8Pars enim sēcūritātis et in hōc est, nōn ex professō eam petere, quia, quae quis fugit, damnat.For part of safety lies in this too: not seeking it openly, because what a man flees, he condemns. Ep. 14.9Circumspiciendum ergō nōbīs est, quōmodo ā vulgō tūtī esse possīmus.We must look about us, then, to see how we can be safe from the mob. Ep. 14.9Prīmum nihil idem concupīscāmus;First, let us covet nothing that others covet; Ep. 14.9rixa est inter competītōrēs.there is strife between rivals. Ep. 14.9Deinde nihil habeāmus, quod cum magnō ēmolumentō īnsidiantis ēripī possit.Next, let us have nothing that could be snatched away to the great profit of one lying in wait. Ep. 14.9Quam minimum sit in corpore tuō spoliōrum.Let there be as little plunder as possible on your person. Ep. 14.9Nēmō ad hūmānum sanguinem propter ipsum venit, aut admodum paucī.No one goes after human blood for its own sake, or very few do.
Ep. 14.9Plūrēs computant quam ōdērunt.More men calculate than hate. Ep. 14.9Nūdum latrō trānsmittit;The robber lets the naked man pass; Ep. 14.9etiam in obsessā viā pauperī pāx est.even on a beset road the poor man has peace. Ep. 14.10Tria deinde ex praeceptō veterī praestanda sunt ut vītentur: odium, invidia, contemptus.Next, there are three things that, according to an old precept, must be guarded against: hatred, envy, contempt. Ep. 14.10Quōmodo hoc fīat, sapientia sōla mōnstrābit Difficile enim temperāmentum est, verendumque, nē in contemptum nōs invidiae timor trānsferat nē dum calcāre nōlumus, videāmur posse calcārī.How this is to be done, wisdom alone will show. For the balance is hard to strike, and we must beware lest fear of envy carry us over into contempt, lest, while we do not wish to trample on others, we seem able to be trampled on. Ep. 14.10Multīs timendī attulit causās timērī posse.For many, the fact that they could be feared has brought reasons for fearing. Ep. 14.10Undique nōs redūcāmus;Let us draw back on every side; Ep. 14.10nōn minus contemnī quam suspicī nocet.to be despised does no less harm than to be looked up to.
Ep. 14.11Ad philosophiam ergō cōnfugiendum est;We must take refuge, then, in philosophy; Ep. 14.11hae litterae, nōn dīcō apud bonōs, sed apud mediocriter malōs, īnfulārum locō sunt.these studies, I will not say among good men, but among the moderately bad, serve as a priest's sacred fillets. Ep. 14.11Nam forēnsis ēloquentia et quaecumque alia populum movet, adversāriōs habet;For eloquence in the courts, and whatever else stirs the people, has opponents; Ep. 14.11haec quiēta et suī negōtiī contemnī nōn potest, cui ab omnibus artibus etiam apud pessimōs honor est.this quiet study, minding its own business, cannot be despised, for it is honoured by all the arts, even among the worst of men. Ep. 14.11Numquam in tantum convalēscet nēquitia^ numquam sīc contrā virtūtēs coniūrābitur, ut nōn philosophiae nōmen venerābile et sacrum maneat.Never will wickedness grow so strong, never will there be such a conspiracy against the virtues, that the name of philosophy does not remain venerable and sacred. Ep. 14.11Cēterum philosophia ipsa tranquillē modestēque trāctanda est.But philosophy itself must be pursued quietly and with restraint. Ep. 14.12"Quid ergō?"'What then?' Ep. 14.12inquis, "Vidētur tibi M. Catō modestē philosophārī, quī bellum cīvīle sententiā reprimit?you say. 'Does Marcus Cato seem to you to practise philosophy with restraint, when he checks a civil war by his vote?
Ep. 14.12Quī furentium prīncipum armīs medius intervenit?When he steps in between the arms of raging chieftains? Ep. 14.12Quī aliīs Pompeium offendentibus aliīs Caesarem simul lacessit duōs?"When, while some offend Pompey and others Caesar, he provokes both at once?' Ep. 14.13Potest aliquis disputāre an illō tempore capessenda fuerit sapientī rēs pūblica.One could debate whether at that time a wise man ought to have taken part in public life. Ep. 14.13"Quid tibi vīs, Mārce Catō?'What do you want, Marcus Cato? Ep. 14.13Iam nōn agitur dē lībertāte;It is no longer a question of liberty; Ep. 14.13ōlim pessumdata est.that was ruined long ago. Ep. 14.13Quaeritur, utrum Caesar an Pompeius possideat rem pūblicam;The question is whether Caesar or Pompey is to possess the state; Ep. 14.13quid tibi cum istā contentiōne?what have you to do with that contest? Ep. 14.13Nūllae partēs tuae sunt;No side is yours; Ep. 14.13dominus ēligitur.a master is being chosen. Ep. 14.13Quid tuā, uter vincat?What does it matter to you which of them wins? Ep. 14.13Potest melior vincere, nōn potest nōn peior esse, quī vīcerit."The better man may win; the one who has won cannot fail to be the worse.' Ep. 14.13Ultimās partēs attigī Catōnis.I have touched on Cato's last role.
Ep. 14.13Sed nē priōrēs quidem annī fuērunt quī sapientem in illam rapīnam reī pūblicae admitterent;But not even the earlier years were such as to admit a wise man to that plundering of the state; Ep. 14.13quid aliud quam vōciferātus est Catō et mīsit irritās vōcēs, cum modo per populī levātus manūs et obrutus spūtīs exportandus extrā forum traherētur, modo ē senātū in carcerem dūcerētur?what else did Cato do but shout and utter empty words, when at one time, lifted up by the hands of the mob and covered with spittle, he was dragged off to be carried out of the forum, and at another was led from the senate to prison? Ep. 14.14Sed posteā vidēbimus, an sapientī opera reī pūblicae danda sit;But we shall see later whether the wise man should give his efforts to the state; Ep. 14.14interim ad hōs tē Stōicōs vocō, quī ā rē pūblicā exclūsī sēcessērunt ad colendam vītam et hūmānō generī iūra condenda sine ūllā potentiōris offēnsā.meanwhile I call you to those Stoics who, shut out of public life, withdrew to cultivate their lives and to lay down laws for the human race without any offence to the more powerful.
Ep. 14.14Nōn conturbābit sapiēns pūblicōs mōrēs nec populum in sē vītae novitāte convertet.The wise man will not disturb public customs, nor will he turn the people's eyes upon himself by the novelty of his life. Ep. 14.15"Quid ergō?'What then? Ep. 14.15Utique erit tūtus, quī hoc prōpositum sequētur?"Will he who follows this plan be safe in every case?' Ep. 14.15Prōmittere tibi hoc nōn magis possum quam in homine temperantī bonam valitūdinem, et tamen facit temperantia bonam valitūdinem.I can no more promise you this than good health in a temperate man, and yet temperance does produce good health. Ep. 14.15Perit aliqua nāvis in portū;Some ship perishes in harbour; Ep. 14.15sed quid tū accidere in mediō marī crēdis?but what do you think happens in the open sea? Ep. 14.15Quantō huic perīculum parātius foret multa agentī mōlientīque, cui nē ōtium quidem tūtum est?How much more ready would danger be for this man if he were doing and undertaking many things, when not even leisure is safe for him? Ep. 14.15Pereunt aliquandō innocentēs;The innocent sometimes perish; Ep. 14.15quis negat?who denies it? Ep. 14.15Nocentēs tamen saepius.Yet the guilty more often.
Ep. 14.15Ars eī cōnstat, quī per ōrnāmenta percussus est.A man's skill holds good even if he has been struck through his armour. Ep. 14.16Dēnique cōnsilium rērum omnium sapiēns, nōn exitum spectat.In short, the wise man looks at the purpose of all things, not at their outcome. Ep. 14.16Initia in potestāte nostrā sunt;Beginnings are in our power; Ep. 14.16dē ēventū fortūna iūdicat, cui dē mē sententiam nōn dō.of the outcome fortune is the judge, and I do not grant her the right to pass sentence on me. Ep. 14.16"At aliquid vexātiōnis adferet, aliquid adversī."'But it will bring some trouble, some misfortune.' Ep. 14.16Nōn damnat latrō, cum occīdit.A robber does not condemn when he kills. Ep. 14.17Nunc ad cōtīdiānam stīpem manum porrigis.Now you are holding out your hand for your daily coin. Ep. 14.17Aureā tē stipe implēbō, et quia facta est aurī mentiō, accipe quemadmodum ūsus frūctusque eius tibi esse grātior possit.I shall fill you up with a golden coin, and since mention has been made of gold, learn how its use and enjoyment can be more pleasing to you.
Ep. 14.17"Is maximē dīvitiīs fruitur, quī minimē dīvitiīs indiget."'He enjoys riches most who needs riches least.' Ep. 14.17"Ēde," inquis, "auctōrem."'Name the author,' you say. Ep. 14.17Ut sciās quam benignī sīmus, prōpositum est aliēna laudāre;So that you may know how generous we are, it is our policy to praise what belongs to others; Ep. 14.17Epicūrī est aut Mētrodōrī aut alicuius ex illā officīnā.it is from Epicurus, or Metrodorus, or someone from that workshop. Ep. 14.18Et quid interest quis dīxerit?And what does it matter who said it? Ep. 14.18Omnibus dīxit.He said it for everyone. Ep. 14.18Quī eget dīvitiīs, timet prō illīs.He who needs riches fears for them. Ep. 14.18Nēmō autem sollicitō bonō fruitur;But no one enjoys a good that brings anxiety; Ep. 14.18adicere illīs aliquid studet.he is eager to add something to it. Ep. 14.18Dum dē incrēmentō cōgitat, oblītus est ūsūs.While he thinks about increasing it, he has forgotten how to use it. Ep. 14.18Ratiōnēs accipit, forum conterit, kalendārium versat;He receives accounts, wears out the forum, pores over his ledger; Ep. 14.18fit ex dominō prōcūrātor.from master he becomes steward. Ep. 14.18Valē.Farewell.