Ep. 29.1Dē Marcellīnō nostrō quaeris et vīs scīre, quid agat.You ask about our friend Marcellinus and want to know how he is doing. Ep. 29.1Rārō ad nōs venit, nōn ūllā aliā ex causā quam quod audīre vērum timet, ā quō perīculō iam abest.He seldom comes to see me, for no other reason than that he is afraid to hear the truth, a danger from which he is by now quite free. Ep. 29.1Nūllī enim nisi audītūrō dīcendum est.For one should speak only to the man who will listen. Ep. 29.1Ideō dē Diogene nec minus dē aliīs Cynicīs, quī lībertāte prōmiscuā ūsī sunt et obviōs monuērunt, dubitārī solet, an hoc facere dēbuerint.That is why, about Diogenes and no less about the other Cynics, who used an indiscriminate freedom of speech and admonished whoever they met, it is commonly doubted whether they ought to have done so. Ep. 29.2Quid enim, sī quis surdōs obiūrget aut nātūrā morbōve mūtōs?For what if someone were to scold the deaf, or those made dumb by nature or by illness? Ep. 29.2"Quārē," inquis, "verbīs parcam?'Why,' you say, 'should I be sparing with words?
Ep. 29.2Grātuīta sunt.They cost nothing. Ep. 29.2Nōn possum scīre, an eī prōfutūrus sim, quem admoneō;I cannot know whether I shall help the man I admonish; Ep. 29.2illud sciō, alicui mē prōfutūrum sī multōs admonuerō.this I do know, that I shall help someone if I admonish many. Ep. 29.2Spargenda manus est.One must sow broadcast. Ep. 29.2Nōn potest fierī, ut nōn aliquandō succēdat multa temptantī."It cannot be that one who tries many times will not sometimes succeed.' Ep. 29.3Hoc, mī Lūcīlī, nōn exīstimō magnō virō faciendum;This, my Lucilius, I do not think a great man should do; Ep. 29.3dīluitur eius auctōritās nec habet apud eōs satis ponderis, quōs posset minus obsolefacta corrigere.his authority is diluted and has not enough weight with those whom it could correct if it were less cheapened. Ep. 29.3Sagittārius nōn aliquandō ferīre dēbet, sed aliquandō dēerrāre.An archer ought not to hit the mark only sometimes, but to miss it only sometimes. Ep. 29.3Nōn est ars, quae ad effectum cāsū vēnit.That is no art which reaches its result by chance. Ep. 29.3Sapientia ars est;Wisdom is an art; Ep. 29.3certum petat, ēligat prōfectūrōs, ab is, quōs dēspērāvit, recēdat, nōn tamen citō relinquat et in ipsā dēspērātiōne extrēma remedia temptet.let it aim at a sure target, choose those who will make progress, withdraw from those it has given up hope of, yet not abandon them quickly, and in the very midst of despair try the last remedies.
Ep. 29.4Marcellīnum nostrum ego nōndum dēspērō.I do not yet despair of our Marcellinus. Ep. 29.4Etiamnunc servārī potest, sed sī citō illī manus porrigitur.He can still be saved, but only if a hand is held out to him quickly. Ep. 29.4Est quidem perīculum, nē porrigentem trahat;There is indeed a danger that he may drag down the one who holds it out; Ep. 29.4magna in illō ingeniī vīs est, sed iam tendentis in prāvum.there is great force of talent in him, but it is already tending towards the bad. Ep. 29.4Nihilōminus adībō hoc perīculum et audēbō illī mala sua ostendere.Nonetheless I shall face this danger and dare to show him his faults. Ep. 29.5Faciet quod solet;He will do what he usually does; Ep. 29.5advocābit illās facētiās, quae rīsum ēvocāre lūgentibus possunt, et in sē prīmum, deinde in nōs iocābitur.he will summon up that wit of his which can draw laughter even from mourners, and will make jokes first about himself, then about us. Ep. 29.5Omnia, quae dictūrus sum, occupābit.He will forestall everything I am going to say.
Ep. 29.5Scrūtābitur scholās nostrās et obiciet philosophīs congiāria, amīcās, gulam.He will rummage through our schools and throw in the philosophers' faces their handouts, their mistresses, their gluttony. Ep. 29.5Ostendet mihi alium in adulteriō, alium in popīnā, alium in aulā.He will show me one philosopher in adultery, another in a tavern, another at court. Ep. 29.6Ostendet mihi M. Lepidī philosophum Aristōnem, quī in gestātiōne disserēbat.He will show me Aristo, the philosopher of Marcus Lepidus, who used to hold forth while being carried about in a litter. Ep. 29.6Hoc enim ad ēdendās operās tempus accēperat.For that was the time he had chosen for bringing out his works. Ep. 29.6Dē cuius sectā cum quaererētur, Scaurus ait: "Utique Peripatēticus nōn est."When it was asked to which sect he belonged, Scaurus said: 'At any rate he is no Peripatetic.' Ep. 29.6Dē eōdem cum cōnsulerētur Iūlius Graecīnus, vir ēgregius, quid sentīret, "Nōn possum," inquit, "tibi dīcere;When Julius Graecinus, a distinguished man, was consulted about the same man and asked what he thought, he said: 'I cannot tell you; Ep. 29.6nesciō enim, quid dē gradū faciat," tamquam dē essedāriō interrogārētur.for I do not know what he can do on foot,' as if he were being asked about a chariot-fighter.
Ep. 29.7Hōs mihi circulātōrēs, quī philosophiam honestius neglēxissent quam vēndunt, in faciem ingeret.He will thrust in my face these mountebanks, who would have done more decently to neglect philosophy than to sell it. Ep. 29.7Cōnstituī tamen contumēliās perpetī;Yet I have resolved to put up with insults; Ep. 29.7moveat ille mihi rīsum, ego fortasse illī lacrimās movēbō, aut sī rīdēre persevērābit, gaudēbō tamquam in malīs, quod illī genus īnsāniae hilare contigerit.let him move me to laughter, I perhaps shall move him to tears, or, if he persists in laughing, I shall rejoice, as one may amid misfortunes, that his kind of madness has turned out to be a cheerful one. Ep. 29.7Sed nōn est ista hilaritās longa.But such cheerfulness does not last long. Ep. 29.7Observā;Watch; Ep. 29.7vidēbis eōsdem intrā exiguum tempus ācerrimē rīdēre et ācerrimē rabere.you will see the same people within a short time laughing most fiercely and raging most fiercely. Ep. 29.8Prōpositum est adgredī illum et ostendere, quantō plūris fuerit, quom multīs minōris vidērētur.My plan is to tackle him and show him how much more he was worth when many thought him worth less.
Ep. 29.8Vitia eius etiam sī nōn excīderō, inhibēbō;Even if I do not cut out his vices, I shall check them; Ep. 29.8nōn dēsinent, sed intermittent.they will not cease, but they will pause. Ep. 29.8Fortasse autem et dēsinent, sī intermittendī cōnsuētūdinem fēcerint.And perhaps they will cease as well, if they make a habit of pausing. Ep. 29.8Nōn est hoc ipsum fastīdiendum, quoniam quidem graviter adfectīs sānitātis locō est bona remissiō.Even this is not to be scorned, since for those seriously ill a good remission takes the place of health. Ep. 29.9Dum mē illī parō, tū interim, quī potes, quī intellegis, unde quō ēvāserīs, et ex eō suspicāns, quoūsque sīs ēvāsūrus, compōne mōrēs tuōs, attolle animum, adversus formīdāta cōnsiste.While I prepare myself for him, you meanwhile, who are able, who understand from where to where you have escaped, and can guess from this how far you will yet escape, set your character in order, lift up your spirit, stand firm against the things you have feared. Ep. 29.9Numerāre eōs nōlī, quī tibi metum faciunt.Do not count those who make you afraid.
Ep. 29.9Nōnne videātur stultus, sī quis multitūdinem eō locō timeat, per quem trānsitus singulīs est?Would not a man seem a fool if he feared a multitude in a place where passage is one at a time? Ep. 29.9Aequē ad tuam mortem multīs aditus nōn est, licet illam multī minentur.Just so, there is no access to your death for many, though many threaten it. Ep. 29.9Sīc istuc nātūra disposuit: spīritum tibi tam ūnus ēripiet quam ūnus dedit.Nature has arranged it like this: just one will snatch your breath from you, as just one gave it. Ep. 29.10Sī pudōrem habērēs, ultimam mihi pēnsiōnem remīsissēs.If you had any shame, you would have let me off the last instalment. Ep. 29.10Sed nē ego quidem mē sordidē geram in fīnem aeris aliēnī et tibi quod dēbeō, inpingam.But I shall not behave shabbily either at the settling of my debt, and I shall thrust on you what I owe. Ep. 29.10"Numquam voluī populō placēre.'I have never wanted to please the people. Ep. 29.10Nam quae ego sciō, nōn probat populus;For what I know the people do not approve; Ep. 29.10quae probat populus, ego nesciō."what the people approve, I do not know.' Ep. 29.11"Quis hoc?"'Who said this?' Ep. 29.11inquis, tamquam nesciās, cui imperem;you ask, as though you did not know whom I press into service; Ep. 29.11Epicūrus.Epicurus.
Ep. 29.11Sed idem hoc omnēs tibi ex omnī domō conclāmābunt, Peripatēticī, Acadēmicī, Stōicī, Cynicī.But all of them will shout this same thing at you from every house, Peripatetics, Academics, Stoics, Cynics. Ep. 29.11Quis enim placēre populō potest, cui placet virtūs?For who can please the people, if virtue pleases him? Ep. 29.11Malīs artibus populāris favor quaeritur.Popular favour is sought by evil arts. Ep. 29.11Similem tē illīs faciās oportet.You must make yourself like them. Ep. 29.11Nōn probābunt, nisi agnōverint.They will not approve you unless they recognise you as one of their own. Ep. 29.11Multō autem ad rem magis pertinet, quālis tibi videāris quam quālis aliīs.But it matters much more what you seem to yourself than what you seem to others. Ep. 29.11Conciliārī nisi turpī ratiōne amor turpium nōn potest.The love of base men cannot be won except by base means. Ep. 29.12Quid ergō illa laudāta et omnibus praeferenda artibus rēbusque philosophia praestābit?What then will that philosophy, so praised and to be preferred to all arts and possessions, provide? Ep. 29.12Scīlicet ut mālīs tibi placēre quam populō, ut aestimēs iūdicia, nōn numerēs, ut sine metū deōrum hominumque vīvās, ut aut vincās mala aut fīniās.Why, that you would rather please yourself than the people, that you weigh judgements and do not count them, that you live without fear of gods and men, that you either overcome evils or end them.
Ep. 29.12Cēterum, sī tē vīderō celebrem secundīs vōcibus vulgī, sī intrante tē clamor et plausus, pantomīmica ōrnāmenta, obstrepuerint, sī tōtā cīvitāte tē fēminae puerīque laudāverint, quidnī ego tuī miserear, cum sciam, quae via ad istum favōrem ferat?For the rest, if I see you celebrated by the favourable cries of the crowd, if when you enter, shouts and applause, the trappings of a pantomime dancer, ring around you, if throughout the whole city women and boys praise you, why should I not pity you, since I know what road leads to that popularity? Ep. 29.12Valē.Farewell.