Ep. 39.1Commentāriōs, quōs dēsīderās, dīligenter ōrdinātōs et in angustum coāctōs ego vērō conpōnam.The notes you ask for, carefully arranged and compressed into a small space, I shall certainly compose. Ep. 39.1Sed vidē, nē plūs prōfutūra sit ratiō ōrdināria quam haec, quae nunc vulgō breviārium dīcitur, ōlim cum latīnē loquerentur, summārium vocābātur.But consider whether the regular method may not be of more use than this which is now commonly called a 'breviary', and was once, when people spoke Latin, called a 'summary'. Ep. 39.1Illa rēs discentī magis necessāria est, haec scientī.The former is more necessary for one who is learning, the latter for one who knows. Ep. 39.1Illa enim docet, haec admonet.For the one teaches, the other reminds. Ep. 39.1Sed utrīusque reī tibi cōpiam faciam.But I shall furnish you with a supply of both. Ep. 39.1Tū ā mē nōn est quod illum aut illum exigās;There is no reason for you to demand this authority or that from me; Ep. 39.1quī nōtōrem dat, ignōtus est.he who offers someone to vouch for him is himself unknown. Ep. 39.2Scrībam ergō quod vīs, sed meō mōre;I shall write, then, what you wish, but in my own way; Ep. 39.2interim multōs habēs, quōrum scrīpta nesciō an satis ōrdinent.meanwhile you have many writers whose works, I rather think, set things out in good enough order.
Ep. 39.2Sūme in manūs indicem philosophōrum;Take into your hands the list of the philosophers; Ep. 39.2haec ipsa rēs expergīscī tē cōget, sī vīderis, quam multī tibi labōrāvērunt.this very thing will compel you to wake up, if you see how many have laboured for you. Ep. 39.2Concupīscēs et ipse ex illīs ūnus esse.You will long to be one of them yourself. Ep. 39.2Habet enim hoc optimum in sē generōsus animus, quod concitātur ad honesta.For a noble mind has this finest quality in it, that it is roused towards honourable things. Ep. 39.2Nēminem excelsī ingeniī virum humilia dēlectant et sordida;No man of lofty spirit is delighted by what is low and mean; Ep. 39.2magnārum rērum speciēs ad sē vocat et extollit.the vision of great things summons him to itself and lifts him up. Ep. 39.3Quemadmodum flamma surgit in rēctum, iacēre ac dēprimī nōn potest, nōn magis quam quiēscere;Just as a flame rises straight up, and cannot lie down or be pressed down, any more than it can be at rest; Ep. 39.3ita noster animus in mōtū est, eō mōbilior et āctuōsior, quō vehementior fuerit.so our mind is in motion, the more mobile and active the more vigorous it is.
Ep. 39.3Sed fēlīx, quī ad meliōra hunc inpetum dedit!But happy the man who has given this impulse to better things! Ep. 39.3Pōnet sē extrā iūs diciōnemque fortūnae.He will place himself beyond the jurisdiction and dominion of fortune. Ep. 39.3Secunda temperābit, adversa comminuet et aliīs admīranda dēspiciet.He will moderate prosperity, crush adversity, and look down on what others admire. Ep. 39.4Magnī animī est magna contemnere ac mediocria mālle quam nimia.It is the mark of a great mind to despise great things and to prefer the moderate to the excessive. Ep. 39.4Illa enim ūtilia vītāliaque sunt;For the former are useful and life-giving; Ep. 39.4at haec eō, quod superfluunt, nocent.but the latter do harm for the very reason that they overflow. Ep. 39.4Sīc segetem nimia sternit ūbertās, sīc rāmī nimiō onere franguntur, sīc ad mātūritātem nōn pervenit nimia fēcunditās.So excessive richness lays the corn flat, so branches are broken by too heavy a load, so excessive fertility does not reach ripeness. Ep. 39.4Idem animīs quoque ēvenit, quōs inmoderāta fēlīcitās rumpit, quā nōn tantum in aliōrum iniūriam, sed etiam in suam ūtuntur.The same happens to minds too, which immoderate prosperity bursts, and they use it not only to the injury of others but also to their own.
Ep. 39.5Quī hostis in quemquam tam contumēliōsus fuit quam in quōsdam voluptātēs suae sunt?What enemy has ever been so insulting towards anyone as their own pleasures are towards some men? Ep. 39.5Quōrum inpotentiae atque īnsānae libīdinī ob hoc ūnum possīs ignōscere, quod quae fēcēre patiuntur.Their lack of self-control and their insane lust you could pardon for this one reason only, that they suffer what they have done. Ep. 39.5Nec inmeritō hic illōs furor vexat;And not undeservedly does this madness torment them; Ep. 39.5necesse est enim in inmēnsum exeat cupiditās, quae nātūrālem modum trānsilit.for desire that leaps over the limit of nature must run out into the boundless. Ep. 39.5Ille enim habet suum fīnem, inānia et ex libīdine orta sine terminō sunt.For that limit has its own end, while empty things and those born of lust have no bound. Ep. 39.6Necessāria mētītur ūtilitās;Usefulness measures what is necessary; Ep. 39.6supervacua quō redigis?by what standard will you bring the superfluous to order? Ep. 39.6Voluptātibus itaque sē mergunt, quibus in cōnsuētūdinem adductīs carēre nōn possunt, et ob hoc miserrimī sunt, quod eō pervēnērunt, ut illīs quae supervacua fuerant, facta sint necessāria.And so they sink themselves in pleasures, which, once brought into habit, they cannot do without, and for this reason they are most wretched, that they have come to the point where what had been superfluous has become necessary to them.
Ep. 39.6Serviunt itaque voluptātibus, nōn fruuntur, et mala sua, quod malōrum ultimum est, et amant.And so they are slaves to their pleasures, they do not enjoy them, and, the last of evils, they even love their own evils. Ep. 39.6Tunc autem est cōnsummāta īnfēlīcitās, ubi turpia nōn sōlum dēlectant, sed etiam placent, et dēsinit esse remediō locus, ubi quae fuerant vitia, mōrēs sunt.And unhappiness is complete at the point where shameful things not only delight but also win approval, and there ceases to be any room for a remedy when what were vices have become habits. Ep. 39.6Valē.Farewell.