Ep. 35.1Cum tē tam valdē rogō, ut studeās, meum negōtium agō;When I ask you so earnestly to study, I am attending to my own business; Ep. 35.1habēre tē amīcum volō, quod contingere mihi, nisi pergis ut coepistī excolere tē, nōn potest.I want to have you as a friend, and this cannot fall to my lot unless you go on cultivating yourself as you have begun. Ep. 35.1Nunc enim amās mē, amīcus nōn es.For at present you love me, but you are not my friend. Ep. 35.1"Quid ergō?'What then? Ep. 35.1Haec inter sē dīversa sunt?"Are these things different from one another?' Ep. 35.1Immō dissimilia.Indeed, they are unlike. Ep. 35.1Quī amīcus est, amat;He who is a friend loves; Ep. 35.1quī amat, nōn utique amīcus est.he who loves is not necessarily a friend. Ep. 35.1Itaque amīcitia semper prōdest, amor aliquandō etiam nocet.And so friendship always does good, while love sometimes even does harm. Ep. 35.1Sī nihil aliud, ob hoc prōfice, ut amāre discās.If for nothing else, make progress for this reason, that you may learn how to love. Ep. 35.2Festīnā ergō, dum mihi prōficis, nē istuc alterī didicerīs.Hurry, then, while you are making progress for my sake, lest it be for someone else that you have learned this.
Ep. 35.2Ego quidem percipiō iam frūctum, cum mihi fingō ūnō nōs animō futūrōs et quicquid aetātī meae vigōris abscessit, id ad mē ex tuā, quamquam nōn multum abest, reditūrum.I indeed already reap the fruit, when I picture to myself that we shall be of one mind, and that whatever vigour has departed from my age will return to me from yours, although yours is not so very far behind. Ep. 35.3Sed tamen rē quoque ipsā esse laetus volō.But all the same I want to be glad in the reality itself as well. Ep. 35.3Venit ad nōs ex iīs, quōs amāmus, etiam absentibus gaudium, sed id leve et ēvānidum;Joy comes to us from those we love even when they are absent, but it is light and fading; Ep. 35.3cōnspectus et praesentia et conversātiō habet aliquid vīvae voluptātis, utique sī nōn tantum quem velīs, sed quālem velīs, videās.the sight of them, their presence and their company hold something of living pleasure, especially if you see not only the man you wish, but the kind of man you wish. Ep. 35.3Adfer itaque tē mihi ingēns mūnus, et quō magis īnstēs, cōgitā tē mortālem esse, mē senem.Bring yourself to me, then, a mighty gift, and, to press on the harder, reflect that you are mortal, and I am old.
Ep. 35.4Properā ad mē, sed ad tē prius.Hurry to me, but to yourself first. Ep. 35.4Prōfice et ante omnia hoc cūrā, ut cōnstēs tibi.Make progress, and above all take care of this, that you are consistent with yourself. Ep. 35.4Quotiēns experīrī volēs, an aliquid āctum sit, observā, an eadem hodiē velīs, quae herī.Whenever you wish to test whether anything has been achieved, observe whether you wish the same things today as yesterday. Ep. 35.4Mūtātiō voluntātis indicat animum natāre, aliubi atque aliubi appārēre, prōut tulit ventus.A change of will shows that the mind is drifting, appearing now here and now there, as the wind has carried it. Ep. 35.4Nōn vagātur, quod fīxum atque fundātum est.What is fixed and founded does not wander. Ep. 35.4Istud sapientī perfectō contingit, aliquātenus et prōficientī prōvectōque.This is the lot of the perfect wise man, and to some extent also of the one who is making progress and is well advanced. Ep. 35.4Quid ergō interest?What, then, is the difference? Ep. 35.4Hic commovētur quidem, nōn tamen trānsit, sed suō locō nūtat;The one is moved, indeed, yet he does not shift his position, but sways in his own place; Ep. 35.4ille nē commovētur quidem.the other is not even moved.
Ep. 35.4Valē.Farewell.