Ep. 42.1Iam tibi iste persuāsit virum sē bonum esse?Has that man of yours already persuaded you that he is a good man? Ep. 42.1Atquī vir bonus tam citō nec fierī potest nec intellegī.And yet a good man can neither be made nor recognised so quickly. Ep. 42.1Scīs quem nunc virum bonum dīcam?Do you know what sort of man I now call good? Ep. 42.1Huius secundae notae.One of the second rank. Ep. 42.1Nam ille alter fortasse tamquam phoenīx semel annō quīngentēsimō nāscitur.For that other kind is perhaps born, like the phoenix, once in five hundred years. Ep. 42.1Nec est mīrum ex intervallō magna generārī;Nor is it surprising that great things are produced at long intervals; Ep. 42.1mediocria et in turbam nāscentia saepe fortūna prōdūcit, eximia vērō ipsā rāritāte commendat.fortune often brings forth the ordinary things that are born in multitudes, but the exceptional it commends by their very rarity. Ep. 42.2Sed iste multum adhūc abest ab eō, quod profitētur.But that man is still far from what he professes. Ep. 42.2Et sī scīret, quid esset vir bonus, nōndum esse sē crēderet, fortasse etiam fierī posse dēspērāret.And if he knew what a good man was, he would not yet believe himself to be one; perhaps he would even despair of being able to become one.
Ep. 42.2"At male exīstimat dē malīs."'But he thinks ill of the wicked.' Ep. 42.2Hoc etiam malī faciunt, nec ūlla maior poena nēquitiae est quam quod sibi ac suīs displicet.The wicked do this too, and there is no greater punishment for wickedness than that it displeases itself and its own. Ep. 42.3"At ōdit eōs, quī subitā et magnā potentiā inpotenter ūtuntur."'But he hates those who use great and sudden power without restraint.' Ep. 42.3Īdem faciet, cum idem potuerit.He will do the same when he has the same power. Ep. 42.3Multōrum, quia inbēcilla sunt, latent vitia, nōn minus ausūra, cum illīs vīrēs suae placuerint, quam illa, quae iam fēlīcitās aperuit.In many men, because they are weak, their vices lie hidden, though they will dare no less, once their strength has come to please them, than those vices which prosperity has already laid open. Ep. 42.4Īnstrūmenta illīs explicandae nēquitiae dēsunt.They lack the means of unfolding their wickedness. Ep. 42.4Sīc tūtō serpēns etiam pestifera trāctātur, dum riget frīgore;In the same way even a deadly snake is handled safely while it is stiff with cold; Ep. 42.4nōn dēsunt tunc illī venēna, sed torpent.it does not lack its venom then, but the venom is numb.
Ep. 42.4Multōrum crūdēlitās et ambitiō et luxuria, ut paria pessimīs audeat, fortūnae favōre dēficitur.In many men cruelty and ambition and luxury lack only the favour of fortune to dare deeds equal to those of the worst. Ep. 42.4Eadem velle sīc subinde cognōscēs: dā posse, quantum volunt.That they want the same things you will soon learn in this way: give them the power to do as much as they wish. Ep. 42.5Meministī, cum quendam adfirmārēs esse in tuā potestāte, dīxisse mē volāticum esse ac levem et tē nōn pedem eius tenēre, sed pennam.You remember that, when you were declaring that a certain man was in your power, I said that he was flighty and fickle, and that you were holding not his foot but a feather. Ep. 42.5Mentītus sum?Did I lie? Ep. 42.5Plūma tenēbātur, quam remīsit et fūgit.You were holding him by a plume, which he let go, and fled. Ep. 42.5Scīs, quōs posteā tibi exhibuerit lūdōs, quam multa in caput suum cāsūra temptāverit.You know what games he played on you afterwards, how many things he attempted that were to fall upon his own head.
Ep. 42.5Nōn vidēbat sē per aliōrum perīcula in suum ruere.He did not see that through endangering others he was rushing into danger himself. Ep. 42.5Nōn cōgitābat, quam onerōsa essent, quae petēbat, etiam sī supervacua nōn essent.He did not consider how burdensome were the things he sought, even if they had not been superfluous. Ep. 42.6Hoc itaque in hīs, quae adfectāmus, ad quae labōre magnō contendimus, īnspicere dēbēmus, aut nihil in illīs commodī esse aut plūs incommodī.And so in the things we strive after, towards which we press with great effort, we ought to look into this: either there is no advantage in them, or more disadvantage. Ep. 42.6Quaedam supervacua sunt, quaedam tantī nōn sunt.Some things are superfluous, some are not worth so much. Ep. 42.6Sed hoc nōn pervidēmus, et grātuīta nōbīs videntur, quae cārissimē cōnstant.But we do not see this clearly, and things seem free to us which cost us very dear. Ep. 42.7Ex eō licet stupor noster appāreat, quod ea sōla putāmus emī, prō quibus pecūniam solvimus, ea grātuīta vocāmus, prō quibus nōs ipsōs inpendimus.Our stupidity may be seen from this, that we think only those things are bought for which we pay money, and we call those things free for which we spend ourselves.
Ep. 42.7Quae emere nōllēmus, sī domus nōbīs nostra prō illīs esset danda, sī amoenum aliquod frūctuōsumve praedium, ad ea parātissimī sumus pervenīre cum sollicitūdine, cum perīculō, cum iactūrā pudōris et lībertātis et temporis;Things which we would refuse to buy if we had to give our house for them, or some pleasant or profitable estate, we are quite ready to reach at the cost of anxiety, of danger, of the loss of honour and freedom and time; Ep. 42.7adeō nihil est cuique sē vīlius.so true is it that nothing is cheaper to each man than himself. Ep. 42.8Idem itaque in omnibus cōnsiliīs rēbusque faciāmus, quod solēmus facere, quotiēns ad īnstitōrem alicuius mercis accessimus;So let us do in all our plans and affairs the same thing that we usually do whenever we approach a dealer in some ware; Ep. 42.8videāmus, hoc quod concupīscimus, quantī dēferātur.let us see at what price this thing we covet is offered. Ep. 42.8Saepe maximum pretium est, prō quō nūllum datur.Often the highest price is one for which no money changes hands. Ep. 42.8Multa possum tibi ostendere, quae adquīsīta acceptaque lībertātem nōbīs extorserint;I can show you many things which, once acquired and received, have wrung our freedom from us; Ep. 42.8nostrī essēmus, sī ista nostra nōn essent.we would belong to ourselves if these things did not belong to us.
Ep. 42.9Haec ergō tēcum ipse versā, nōn sōlum ubi dē incrēmentō agētur, sed etiam ubi dē iactūrā.Turn these thoughts over, then, by yourself, not only when it is a question of gain but also when it is a question of loss. Ep. 42.9"Hoc peritūrum est."'This is going to perish.' Ep. 42.9Nempe adventīcium fuit;Yes, it came from outside; Ep. 42.9tam facile sine istō vīvēs quam vīxistī.you will live without it as easily as you lived before. Ep. 42.9Sī diū illud habuistī, perdis postquam satiātus es;If you have had it long, you lose it after you have had your fill of it; Ep. 42.9sī nōn diū, perdis antequam adsuēscās.if not long, you lose it before you have grown used to it. Ep. 42.9"Pecūniam minōrem habēbis."'You will have less money.' Ep. 42.9Nempe et molestiam.Yes, and less trouble too. Ep. 42.10"Grātiam minōrem."'Less influence.' Ep. 42.10Nempe et invidiam.Yes, and less envy too. Ep. 42.10Circumspice ista, quae nōs agunt in īnsāniam, quae cum plūrumīs lacrimīs āmittimus;Look around at those things which drive us to madness, which we lose with floods of tears; Ep. 42.10sciēs nōn damnum in is molestum esse, sed opīniōnem damnī.you will find that it is not the loss in them that is troublesome but the opinion of loss.
Ep. 42.10Nēmō illa perīsse sentit, sed cōgitat.No one feels that they are gone; he only thinks so. Ep. 42.10Quī sē habet, nihil perdidit.He who has himself has lost nothing. Ep. 42.10Sed quotō cuique habēre sē contigit?But how few have had the good fortune to possess themselves? Ep. 42.10Valē.Farewell.