Ep. 28.1Hoc tibi sōlī putās accidisse et admīrāns quasi rem novam, quod peregrīnātiōne tam longā et tot locōrum varietātibus nōn discussistī trīstitiam gravitātemque mentis?Do you think this has happened to you alone, and do you wonder at it as something new, that with such long travel and so many changes of scene you have not shaken off the gloom and heaviness of your mind? Ep. 28.1Animum dēbēs mūtāre, nōn caelum.It is your mind you must change, not your sky. Ep. 28.1Licet vāstum trāiēcerīs mare, licet, ut ait Vergilius noster, "Terraeque urbēsque recēdant," sequentur tē, quōcumque pervēneris, vitia.Though you have crossed the vast sea, though, as our Virgil says, 'lands and cities recede', your vices will follow you wherever you arrive. Ep. 28.2Hoc idem querentī cuidam Sōcratēs ait: "Quid mīrāris nihil tibi peregrīnātiōnēs prōdesse, cum tē circumferās?To someone making this same complaint Socrates said: 'Why are you surprised that your travels do you no good, when you carry yourself around with you? Ep. 28.2Premit tē eadem causa, quae expulit."You are weighed down by the same cause that drove you out.' Ep. 28.2Quid terrārum iuvāre novitās potest?What help can novelty of lands give?
Ep. 28.2Quid cognitiō urbium aut locōrum?What help can acquaintance with cities or places? Ep. 28.2In inritum cēdit ista iactātiō.All that tossing about comes to nothing. Ep. 28.2Quaeris quārē tē fuga ista nōn adiuvet?Do you ask why this flight of yours does not help you? Ep. 28.2Tēcum fugis.You flee with yourself. Ep. 28.2Onus animī dēpōnendum est;The burden on your mind must be laid down; Ep. 28.2nōn ante tibi ūllus placēbit locus.until then, no place will please you. Ep. 28.3Tālem nunc esse habitum tuum cōgitā, quālem Vergilius noster vātis indūcit iam concitātae et īnstīgātae multumque habentis in sē spīritūs nōn suī: "Bacchātur vātēs, magnum sī pectore possit Excussisse deum."Imagine that your condition now is like that of the prophetess whom our Virgil brings on, already roused and goaded and holding within her much breath that is not her own: 'The prophetess raves, if she might shake the great god from her breast.' Ep. 28.3Vādis hūc illūc, ut excutiās īnsidēns pondus, quod ipsā iactātiōne incommodius fit, sīcut in nāvī onera inmōta minus urgent, inaequāliter convolūta citius eam partem, in quam incubuēre, dēmergunt.You go here and there to shake off the weight that sits on you, which becomes more troublesome through the very tossing, just as in a ship cargo that stays still presses less, while cargo rolling unevenly sinks more quickly the side on which it has settled.
Ep. 28.3Quicquid facis, contrā tē facis et mōtū ipsō nocēs tibi;Whatever you do, you do against yourself, and by the very motion you harm yourself; Ep. 28.3aegrum enim concutis.for you are shaking a sick man. Ep. 28.4At cum istud exēmeris malum, omnis mūtātiō locī iūcunda fīet;But when you have removed that evil, every change of place will become pleasant; Ep. 28.4in ultimās expellāris terrās licēbit, in quōlibet barbariae angulō conlocēris, hospitālis tibi illa quāliscumque sēdēs erit.you may be driven out to the farthest lands, you may be settled in any corner of barbarian country, that dwelling, whatever it is, will be hospitable to you. Ep. 28.4Magis quis vēnerīs quam quō, interest, et ideō nūllī locō addīcere dēbēmus animum.Who you are when you come matters more than where you come to, and therefore we ought not to bind our mind to any one place. Ep. 28.4Cum hāc persuāsiōne vīvendum est: "Nōn sum ūnī angulō nātus, patria mea tōtus hic mundus est."We must live with this conviction: 'I was not born for one corner; my homeland is this whole world.' Ep. 28.5Quod sī liquēret tibi, nōn admīrārēris nīl adiuvārī tē regiōnum varietātibus, in quās subinde priōrum taediō migrās.If this were clear to you, you would not wonder that you get no help from the variety of regions to which you keep moving out of weariness with the ones before.
Ep. 28.5Prīma enim quaeque placuisset, sī omnem tuam crēderēs.For the first of them would have pleased you, if you believed every land was yours. Ep. 28.5Nunc nōn peregrīnāris, sed errās et ageris ac locum ex locō mūtās, cum illud, quod quaeris, bene vīvere, omnī locō positum sit.As it is, you are not travelling but wandering, and are driven about and change from place to place, when what you seek, to live well, is set down in every place. Ep. 28.6Num quid tam turbidum fierī potest quam forum?Can anything be as turbulent as the forum? Ep. 28.6Ibi quoque licet quiētē vīvere, sī necesse sit.Even there one may live quietly, if need be. Ep. 28.6Sed sī liceat dispōnere sē, cōnspectum quoque et vīcīniam forī procul fugiam.But if one were free to order one's life, I would flee far even from the sight and neighbourhood of the forum. Ep. 28.6Nam ut loca gravia etiam firmissimam valitūdinem temptant, ita bonae quoque mentī necdum adhūc perfectae et convalēscentī!For as unhealthy places try even the strongest constitution, so too for a mind that is good but not yet perfect and still recovering, Ep. 28.6sunt aliqua parum salūbria.there are some places that are not wholesome enough.
Ep. 28.7Dissentiō ab hīs, quī in flūctūs mediōs eunt et tumultuōsam probantēs vītam cōtīdiē cum difficultātibus rērum magnō animō conluctantur.I disagree with those who go into the midst of the waves and, approving of a turbulent life, wrestle every day with great spirit against the difficulties of affairs. Ep. 28.7Sapiēns feret ista, nōn ēliget, et mālet in pāce esse quam in pugnā.The wise man will endure such things, not choose them, and will prefer to be at peace rather than at war. Ep. 28.7Nōn multum prōdest vitia sua prōiēcisse, sī cum aliēnīs rixandum est.It is of little use to have thrown off your own vices if you must quarrel with other people's. Ep. 28.8"Trīgintā," inquit, "tyrannī Sōcratēn circumstetērunt nec potuērunt animum eius īnfringere."'The Thirty Tyrants,' someone says, 'stood around Socrates and could not break his spirit.' Ep. 28.8Quid interest, quot dominī sint?What does it matter how many masters there are? Ep. 28.8Servitūs ūna est.Slavery is one and the same. Ep. 28.8Hanc quī contempsit, in quantalibet turbā dominantium līber est.Whoever has despised it is free, however great the crowd of masters.
Ep. 28.9Tempus est dēsinere, sed sī prius portōrium solverō.It is time to stop, but only once I have paid the toll. Ep. 28.9"Initium est salūtis nōtitia peccātī."'The knowledge of wrongdoing is the beginning of salvation.' Ep. 28.9Ēgregiē mihi hoc dīxisse vidētur Epicūrus.Epicurus seems to me to have said this excellently. Ep. 28.9Nam quī peccāre sē nescit, corrigī nōn vult;For whoever does not know that he is doing wrong does not want to be corrected; Ep. 28.9dēprehendās tē oportet, antequam ēmendēs.you must catch yourself out before you can reform. Ep. 28.10Quīdam vitiīs glōriantur;Some men boast of their vices; Ep. 28.10tū exīstimās aliquid dē remediō cōgitāre, quī mala sua virtūtum locō numerant?do you suppose that those who count their faults in place of virtues give any thought to a cure? Ep. 28.10Ideō quantum potes, tē ipse coargue, inquīre in tē;Therefore, as far as you can, convict yourself, investigate yourself; Ep. 28.10accūsātōris prīmum partibus fungere, deinde iūdicis, novissimē dēprecātōris.play the part first of accuser, then of judge, last of all of intercessor. Ep. 28.10Aliquandō tē offende.Sometimes give yourself offence. Ep. 28.10Valē.Farewell.