Ep. 17.1Prōice omnia ista, sī sapis, immō ut sapiās, et ad bonam mentem magnō cursū ac tōtīs vīribus tende.Throw away all those things, if you are wise, or rather so that you may be wise, and strive towards a sound mind at full speed and with all your strength. Ep. 17.1Sī quid est, quō tenēris, aut expedī aut incīde.If there is anything by which you are held, either untie it or cut it. Ep. 17.1"Morātur," inquis, "mē rēs familiāris;'My family estate,' you say, 'detains me; Ep. 17.1sīc illam dispōnere volō, ut sufficere nihil agentī possit, nē aut paupertās mihi onerī sit aut ego alicui."I want to arrange it so that it can support me while I do nothing, so that neither poverty may be a burden to me nor I to anyone else.' Ep. 17.2Cum hoc dīcis, nōn vidēris vim ac potentiam eius, dē quō cōgitās, bonī nōsse.When you say this, you do not seem to know the power and potency of that good which you are considering. Ep. 17.2Et summam quidem reī pervidēs, quantum philosophia prōsit, partēs autem nōndum satis subtīliter dispicis, necdum scīs, quantum ubīque nōs adiuvet, quemadmodum et in maximīs, ut Cicerōnis ūtar verbō, opitulētur et in minima dēscendat.You do indeed see the sum of the matter, how much philosophy is of use, but you do not yet discern its parts precisely enough, nor do you yet know how much it helps us everywhere, how it both gives aid, to use Cicero's word, in the greatest matters and comes down to the smallest.
Ep. 17.2Mihi crēde, advocā illam in cōnsilium;Believe me, call her in to your council; Ep. 17.2suādēbit tibi, nē ad calculōs sedeās.she will advise you not to sit over your accounts. Ep. 17.3Nempe hoc quaeris et hoc istā dīlātiōne vīs cōnsequī, nē tibi paupertās timenda sit;Surely what you are seeking, and what you want to gain by this delay, is that you may not have to fear poverty; Ep. 17.3quid sī adpetenda est?but what if it is something to be sought? Ep. 17.3Multīs ad philosophandum obstitēre dīvitiae;Riches have stood in the way of many when it came to practising philosophy; Ep. 17.3paupertās expedīta est, sēcūra est.poverty is unencumbered, it is free from care. Ep. 17.3Cum classicum cecinit, scit nōn sē petī;When the trumpet has sounded, it knows that it is not the one being attacked; Ep. 17.3cum aqua conclāmāta est, quōmodo exeat, nōn quid efferat, quaerit;when the alarm of fire has been raised, it asks how to get out, not what to carry out; Ep. 17.3sī nāvigandum est, nōn strepitat portus nec ūnīus comitātū inquiēta sunt lītora.if it must go to sea, the harbour is not in uproar, nor are the shores disturbed by the retinue of one man.
Ep. 17.3Nōn circumstat illum turba servōrum, ad quōs pāscendōs trānsmarīnārum regiōnum est optanda fertilitās.No crowd of slaves surrounds it, for whose feeding one must pray for the fertility of lands beyond the sea. Ep. 17.4Facile est pāscere paucōs ventrēs et bene īnstitūtōs et nihil aliud dēsīderantēs quam inplērī.It is easy to feed a few bellies, well trained and desiring nothing else than to be filled. Ep. 17.4Parvō famēs cōnstat, magnō fastīdium.Hunger costs little, fastidiousness much. Ep. 17.4Paupertās contenta est dēsīderiīs īnstantibus satis facere.Poverty is content to satisfy pressing needs. Ep. 17.4Quid est ergō, quārē hanc recūsēs contubernālem, cuius mōrēs sānus dīves imitātur?What reason is there, then, for you to refuse her as a companion, whose ways the sane rich man imitates? Ep. 17.5sī vīs vacāre animō, aut pauper sīs oportet aut pauperī similis.If you want to have your mind free, you must either be poor or like a poor man. Ep. 17.5Nōn potest studium salūtāre fierī sine frūgālitātis cūrā;Study cannot be healthful without attention to frugality; Ep. 17.5frūgālitās autem paupertās voluntāria est.and frugality is voluntary poverty. Ep. 17.5Tolle itaque istās excūsātiōnēs: "Nōndum habeō, quantum satis est;So away with those excuses: 'I do not yet have as much as is enough; Ep. 17.5sī ad illam summam pervēnerō, tunc mē tōtum philosophiae dabō."when I have reached that sum, then I shall give myself wholly to philosophy.' Ep. 17.5Atquī nihil prius quam hoc parandum est, quod tū differs et post cētera parās;And yet nothing must be acquired before this thing, which you put off and acquire after everything else; Ep. 17.5ab hōc incipiendum est.it is with this that you must begin.
Ep. 17.5"Parāre," inquis, "unde vīvam volō."'I want,' you say, 'to acquire the means to live.' Ep. 17.5Simul et parā et disce;Acquire and learn at the same time; Ep. 17.5sī quid tē vetat bene vīvere, bene morī nōn vetat.if anything forbids you to live well, it does not forbid you to die well. Ep. 17.6Nōn est quod nōs paupertās ā philosophiā revocet, nē egestās quidem.There is no reason why poverty should call us away from philosophy, nor even want. Ep. 17.6Toleranda est enim ad hoc properantibus vel famēs.For those hastening towards it must endure even hunger. Ep. 17.6Quam tolerāvēre quīdam in obsidiōnibus, et quod aliud erat illīs patientiae praemium quam in arbitrium nōn cadere victōris?Some have endured hunger in sieges, and what other reward for their endurance did they have than not falling into the power of the victor? Ep. 17.6Quantō hīc maius est quod prōmittitur: perpetua lībertās, nūllīus nec hominis nec deī timor.How much greater is what is promised here: everlasting freedom, and fear of no one, neither man nor god. Ep. 17.6Et quidem vel ēsurientī ad ista veniendum est.And indeed one must come to these things even when starving.
Ep. 17.7Perpessī sunt exercitūs inopiam omnium rērum, vīxērunt herbārum rādīcibus et dictū foedīs tulērunt famem.Armies have endured the lack of all things, have lived on the roots of plants, and have borne hunger by means foul to speak of. Ep. 17.7Haec omnia passī sunt prō regnō, quō magis mīrēris, aliēnō.All this they suffered for a kingdom, and, to make you marvel the more, another's. Ep. 17.7Dubitābit aliquis ferre paupertātem, ut animum furōribus līberet?Will anyone hesitate to bear poverty, in order to free his mind from madness? Ep. 17.7Nōn est ergō prius adquīrendum;So we need not acquire wealth first; Ep. 17.7licet ad philosophiam etiam sine viāticō pervenīre.one may reach philosophy even without travelling money. Ep. 17.8Ita est.So it is. Ep. 17.8Cum omnia habueris, tunc habēre et sapientiam volēs?When you have everything, will you then want to have wisdom too? Ep. 17.8Haec erit ultimum vītae īnstrūmentum et, ut ita dīcam, additāmentum?Is this to be the last tool of life and, so to speak, an appendage? Ep. 17.8Tū vērō, sīve aliquid habēs, iam philosophāre,—unde enim scīs, an iam nimis habeās?—sīve nihil, hoc prius quaere quam quicquam.No, if you have anything, practise philosophy now (for how do you know whether you do not already have too much?); if you have nothing, seek this before anything else.
Ep. 17.9"At necessāria dēerant."'But I should lack necessities.' Ep. 17.9Prīmum dēesse nōn poterunt, quia nātūra minimum petit, nātūrae autem sē sapiēns accommodat.In the first place, they will not be able to be lacking, because nature asks for very little, and the wise man adapts himself to nature. Ep. 17.9Sed sī necessitātēs ultimae incidērunt, iamdūdum exībit ē vītā et molestus sibi esse dēsinet.But if the utmost necessity has befallen him, he will promptly depart from life and cease to be a trouble to himself. Ep. 17.9Sī vērō exiguum erit et angustum, quō possit vīta prōdūcī, id bonī cōnsulet nec ultrā necessāria sollicitus aut ānxius ventrī et scapulīs suum reddet et occupātiōnēs dīvitum concursātiōnēsque ad dīvitiās euntium sēcūrus laetusque rīdēbit ac dīcet: "Quid in longum ipse tē differs?But if the means by which his life can be prolonged are scanty and narrow, he will make the best of it, and, not worried or anxious about anything beyond necessities, he will give his belly and his shoulders their due, and free from care and cheerful he will laugh at the busy pursuits of the rich and the rushing about of those hurrying after riches, and will say: 'Why do you yourself put yourself off for so long?
Ep. 17.10Expectābisne fēnoris quaestum aut ex merce conpendium aut tabulās beātī senis, cum fierī possīs statim dīves?Will you wait for the profit from interest, or the gain from merchandise, or the will of a rich old man, when you could become rich at once? Ep. 17.10Repraesentat opēs sapientia, quās cuicumque fēcit supervacuās, dedit."Wisdom pays wealth in ready cash: to whomever it has made wealth superfluous, it has given it.' Ep. 17.10Haec ad aliōs pertinent;These remarks apply to others; Ep. 17.10tū locuplētibus propior es.you are nearer to the rich. Ep. 17.10Saeculum mūtā, nimis habēs.Change the age you live in, and you have too much. Ep. 17.10Idem est autem omnī saeculō, quod sat est.But what is enough is the same in every age. Ep. 17.11Poteram hōc locō epistulam claudere, nisi tē male īnstituissem.I could have closed my letter at this point, had I not trained you badly. Ep. 17.11Rēgēs Parthōrum nōn potest quisquam salūtāre sine mūnere;No one can greet the kings of the Parthians without a gift; Ep. 17.11tibi valedīcere nōn licet grātīs.I may not say farewell to you for nothing.
Ep. 17.11Quid istīc?What then? Ep. 17.11Ab Epicūrō mūtuum sūmam: "Multīs parāsse dīvitiās nōn fīnis miseriārum fuit, sed mūtātiō."I shall borrow from Epicurus: 'For many, the acquiring of riches has been not an end of their miseries but a change in them.' Ep. 17.12Nec hoc mīror.Nor do I wonder at this. Ep. 17.12Nōn est enim in rēbus vitium, sed in ipsō animō.For the fault is not in things, but in the mind itself. Ep. 17.12Illud, quod paupertātem nōbīs gravem fēcerat, et dīvitiās gravēs fēcit.That which had made poverty burdensome to us has made riches burdensome too. Ep. 17.12Quemadmodum nihil rēfert, utrum aegrum in ligneō lectō an in aureō conlocēs,—quōcumque illum trānstuleris, morbum sēcum suum trānsferet,—sīc nihil rēfert, utrum aeger animus in dīvitiīs an in paupertāte pōnātur.Just as it makes no difference whether you lay a sick man on a wooden bed or a golden one (wherever you move him, he will take his disease with him), so it makes no difference whether a sick mind is placed amid riches or amid poverty. Ep. 17.12Malum illum suum sequitur.Its trouble follows it. Ep. 17.12Valē.Farewell.