Ep. 23.1Putās mē tibi scrīptūrum, quam hūmāne nōbīscum hiemps ēgerit, quae et remissa fuit et brevis, quam malignum vēr sit, quam praeposterum frīgus, et aliās ineptiās verba quaerentium?Do you think I am going to write to you about how kindly the winter has dealt with us, a winter both mild and short, how grudging the spring is, how unseasonable the cold, and other trifles of people hunting for something to say? Ep. 23.1Ego vērō aliquid, quod et mihi et tibi prōdesse possit, scrībam.No, I shall write something which can be of use both to me and to you. Ep. 23.1Quid autem id erit, nisi ut tē exhorter ad bonam mentem?And what will that be, except to urge you towards a sound mind? Ep. 23.1Huius fundāmentum quod sit quaeris?Do you ask what its foundation is? Ep. 23.1Nē gaudeās vānīs.Not to rejoice in empty things. Ep. 23.1Fundāmentum hoc esse dīxī;I said that this was the foundation; Ep. 23.1culmen est.it is the summit. Ep. 23.2Ad summa pervenit, quī scit, quō gaudeat, quī fēlīcitātem suam in aliēnā potestāte nōn posuit;He has reached the heights who knows what to rejoice in, who has not placed his happiness in another's power; Ep. 23.2sollicitus est et incertus suī, quem spēs aliqua prōrītat, licet ad manum sit, licet nōn ex difficilī petātur, licet numquam illum spērāta dēcēperint.anxious and unsure of himself is the man whom some hope provokes, even if it is close at hand, even if it is sought without difficulty, even if the things he hoped for have never deceived him.
Ep. 23.3Hoc ante omnia fac, mī Lūcīlī: disce gaudēre.Do this before everything, my Lucilius: learn to rejoice. Ep. 23.3Exīstimās nunc mē dētrahere tibi multās voluptātēs, quī fortuīta summoveō, quī spēs, dulcissima oblectāmenta, dēvītandās exīstimō?Do you think now that I am taking many pleasures away from you, I who remove the gifts of chance, who think that hopes, the sweetest of delights, must be avoided? Ep. 23.3Immō contrā nōlō tibi umquam dēesse laetitiam.On the contrary, I do not want you ever to lack gladness. Ep. 23.3Volō illam tibi domī nāscī;I want it to be born for you at home; Ep. 23.3nāscitur, sī modo intrā tē ipsum sit.and it is born there, provided only that it is within your own self. Ep. 23.3Cēterae hilaritātēs nōn implent pectus, frontem remittunt, levēs sunt, nisi forte tū iūdicās eum gaudēre, quī rīdet.Other kinds of merriment do not fill the heart; they smooth the brow, they are shallow, unless perhaps you judge that the man who laughs is rejoicing. Ep. 23.3Animus esse dēbet alacer et fīdēns et super omnia ērēctus.The mind ought to be eager and confident and raised above everything.
Ep. 23.4Mihi crēde, vērum gaudium rēs sevēra est.Believe me, true joy is a serious matter. Ep. 23.4An tū exīstimās quemquam solūtō vultū et, ut istī dēlicātī locuntur, hilariculō mortem contemnere, paupertātī domum aperīre, voluptātēs tenēre sub frēnō, meditārī dolōrum patientiam?Or do you think that anyone, with a relaxed face and, as those dainty people put it, a jolly one, despises death, opens his house to poverty, keeps pleasures under the bridle, and practises the endurance of pain? Ep. 23.4Haec quī apud sē versat, in magnō gaudiō est, sed parum blandō.The man who turns these things over within himself is in great joy, but hardly an alluring one. Ep. 23.4In huius gaudiī possessiōne esse tē volō;It is in possession of this joy that I want you to be; Ep. 23.4numquam dēficiet, cum semel unde petātur invēneris.it will never fail, once you have found where it is to be sought. Ep. 23.5Levium metallōrum frūctus in summō est;The yield of poor mines lies on the surface; Ep. 23.5illa opulentissima sunt, quōrum in altō latet vēna adsiduē plēnius respōnsūra fodientī.the richest are those whose vein lies hidden in the depths, ready to answer ever more fully to the man who keeps digging.
Ep. 23.5Haec, quibus dēlectātur vulgus, tenuem habent ac perfūsōriam voluptātem, et quodcumque invectīcium gaudium est, fundāmentō caret.These things which delight the crowd give a thin and superficial pleasure, and any joy that is brought in from outside lacks a foundation. Ep. 23.5Hoc, dē quō loquor, ad quod tē cōnor perdūcere, solidum est et quod plūs pateat intrōrsus.This joy of which I speak, towards which I am trying to lead you, is solid, and of the kind that opens out more widely within. Ep. 23.6Fac, ōrō tē, Lūcīlī cārissime, quod ūnum potest praestāre fēlīcem: dissice et conculcā ista, quae extrīnsecus splendent, quae tibi prōmittuntur ab aliō vel ex aliō, ad vērum bonum spectā et dē tuō gaudē.Do, I beg you, dearest Lucilius, the one thing that can make you happy: scatter and trample underfoot those things which glitter on the outside, which are promised to you by another or from another; look towards the true good and rejoice in what is your own. Ep. 23.6Quid est autem hoc "dē tuō"?But what is this 'what is your own'? Ep. 23.6Tē ipsō et tuī optimā parte.Yourself and the best part of you.
Ep. 23.6Corpusculum quoque, etiam sī nihil fierī sine illō potest, magis necessāriam rem crēde quam magnam;Your poor body too, even if nothing can be done without it, believe to be a necessary thing rather than a great one; Ep. 23.6vānās suggerit voluptātēs, brevēs, paenitendās, ac nisi magnā moderātiōne temperentur, in contrārium abitūrās.it supplies empty pleasures, short-lived, to be regretted, and destined, unless they are tempered with great moderation, to turn into their opposite. Ep. 23.6Ita dīcō: in praecipitī voluptās ad dolōrem vergit, nisi modum tenuit.This is what I mean: pleasure, standing on a steep slope, tips towards pain unless it has kept within bounds. Ep. 23.6Modum autem tenēre in eō difficile est, quod bonum esse crēdideris.But it is hard to keep within bounds in something you have believed to be good. Ep. 23.6Vērī bonī aviditās tūta est.Eagerness for the true good is safe. Ep. 23.7Quid sit istud, interrogās, aut unde subeat?Do you ask what that is, or where it comes from? Ep. 23.7Dīcam: ex bonā cōnscientiā, ex honestīs cōnsiliīs, ex rēctīs āctiōnibus, ex contemptū fortuītōrum, ex placidō vītae et continuō tenōre ūnam prementis viam.I shall tell you: from a good conscience, from honourable intentions, from right actions, from contempt for the gifts of chance, from the calm and unbroken course of a life that treads a single path.
Ep. 23.7Nam illī, quī ex aliīs prōpositīs in alia trānsībunt aut nē trānsībunt quidem, sed cāsū quōdam trānsmittuntur, quōmodo habēre quicquam certum mānsūrumve possunt suspēnsī et vagī?For those who will pass from some purposes to others, or will not even pass, but are carried across by some chance, how can they have anything certain or lasting, hanging and wandering as they are? Ep. 23.8Paucī sunt, quī cōnsiliō sē suaque dispōnant, cēterī eōrum mōre, quae flūminibus innatant, nōn eunt, sed feruntur.There are few who order themselves and their affairs by deliberate plan; the rest, like things that float on rivers, do not go, but are carried along. Ep. 23.8Ex quibus alia lēnior unda dētinuit ac mollius vexit, alia vehementior rapuit, alia proxima rīpae cursū languēscente dēposuit, alia torrēns impetus in mare ēiēcit.Of these, some a gentler wave has held back and borne more softly, others a more violent one has snatched away, others, as the current slackened, it has set down nearest the bank, others a torrent's rush has flung out into the sea. Ep. 23.8Ideō cōnstituendum est, quid velīmus, et in eō persevērandum.Therefore we must decide what we want, and persevere in it.
Ep. 23.9Hic est locus solvendī aeris aliēnī.This is the place for paying off my debt. Ep. 23.9Possum enim tibi vōcem Epicūrī tuī reddere et hanc epistulam līberāre: "Molestum est semper vītam incohāre."For I can render you a saying of your Epicurus and so free this letter from obligation: 'It is a wretched thing always to be beginning life.' Ep. 23.9Aut sī hōc modō magis sēnsus potest exprimī: "Male vīvunt, quī semper vīvere incipiunt."Or, if the sense can be better expressed in this way: 'They live badly who are always beginning to live.' Ep. 23.10"Quārē?"'Why?' Ep. 23.10inquis, dēsīderat enim explānātiōnem ista vōx.you ask, for that saying needs explanation. Ep. 23.10Quia semper illīs inperfecta vīta est.Because their life is always incomplete. Ep. 23.10Nōn potest autem stāre parātus ad mortem, quī modo incipit vīvere.But a man who is only now beginning to live cannot stand prepared for death. Ep. 23.10Id agendum est, ut satis vīxerīmus.We must make it our aim to have lived enough. Ep. 23.10Nēmō hoc putat, quī ordītur cum maximē vītam.No one thinks this who is just at this moment starting to weave his life.
Ep. 23.11Nōn est quod exīstimēs paucōs esse hōs;There is no reason for you to think that these are few; Ep. 23.11propemodum omnēs sunt.they are almost everyone. Ep. 23.11Quīdam vērō tunc incipiunt, cum dēsinendum est.Some, indeed, begin only when they must stop. Ep. 23.11Sī hoc iūdicās mīrum, adiciam quod magis admīrēris: quīdam ante vīvere dēsiērunt quam inciperent.If you think this strange, I shall add something to surprise you more: some have stopped living before they began. Ep. 23.11Valē.Farewell.