Ep. 6.1Intellegō, Lūcīlī, nōn ēmendārī mē tantum sed trānsfigūrārī.I understand, Lucilius, that I am not only being corrected but transformed. Ep. 6.1Nec hoc prōmittō iam aut spērō, nihil in mē superesse, quod mūtandum sit.Nor do I yet promise or hope that nothing remains in me which needs to be changed. Ep. 6.1Quidnī multa habeam, quae dēbeant colligī, quae extenuārī, quae attollī?Why should I not have many things that ought to be brought together, others thinned out, others raised up? Ep. 6.1Et hoc ipsum argūmentum est in melius trānslātī animī, quod vitia sua, quae adhūc ignōrābat, videt.And this very thing is proof of a mind changed for the better, that it sees its own faults, of which it was hitherto unaware. Ep. 6.1Quibusdam aegrīs grātulātiō fit, cum ipsī aegrōs sē esse sēnsērunt.Some sick people are congratulated when they themselves have perceived that they are sick. Ep. 6.2Cuperem itaque tēcum commūnicāre tam subitam mūtātiōnem meī;I should like, therefore, to share with you so sudden a change in myself; Ep. 6.2tunc amīcitiae nostrae certiōrem fīdūciam habēre coepissem, illīus vērae, quam nōn spēs, nōn timor, nōn ūtilitātis suae cūra dīvellit, illīus, cum quā hominēs moriuntur, prō quā moriuntur.then I should have begun to have a surer confidence in our friendship, that true friendship which neither hope nor fear nor concern for one's own advantage tears apart, that friendship with which men die, and for which they die.
Ep. 6.3Multōs tibi dabō, quī nōn amīcō, sed amīcitiā caruērunt.I will give you many who have lacked not a friend, but friendship. Ep. 6.3Hoc nōn potest accidere, cum animōs in societātem honesta cupiendī pār voluntās trahit.This cannot happen when an equal will to desire what is honourable draws minds into fellowship. Ep. 6.3Quidnī nōn possit?Why can it not? Ep. 6.3Sciunt enim ipsōs omnia habēre commūnia, et quidem magis adversa.Because they know that they have all things in common, and adversity above all. Ep. 6.3Concipere animō nōn potes, quantum mōmentī adferre mihi singulōs diēs videam.You cannot conceive in your mind how much progress I see each single day bring me. Ep. 6.4"Mitte," inquis, "et nōbīs ista, quae tam efficācia expertus es."'Send to me too,' you say, 'those things which you have found so effective.' Ep. 6.4Ego vērō omnia in tē cupiō trānsfundere, et in hoc aliquid gaudeō discere, ut doceam.I do indeed long to pour everything into you, and I rejoice to learn something precisely so that I may teach it. Ep. 6.4Nec mē ūlla rēs dēlectābit, licet sit eximia et salūtāris, quam mihi ūnī scītūrus sum.Nor will anything delight me, however excellent and beneficial it may be, which I am to know only for myself.
Ep. 6.4Sī cum hāc exceptiōne dētur sapientia, ut illam inclūsam teneam nec ēnūntiem, rēiciam.If wisdom were given me with this condition, that I should keep it shut up and not speak it out, I would refuse it. Ep. 6.4Nūllīus bonī sine sociō iūcunda possessiō est.The possession of no good thing is pleasant without a companion. Ep. 6.5Mittam itaque ipsōs tibi librōs et nē multum operae inpendās, dum passim prōfutūra sectāris, inpōnam notās, ut ad ipsa prōtinus, quae probō et mīror, accēdās.I will send you, then, the books themselves, and so that you do not spend much effort hunting here and there for what will be useful, I will add marks, so that you may come straight to the very passages I approve and admire. Ep. 6.5Plūs tamen tibi et vīva vōx et convīctus quam ōrātiō prōderit.Yet the living voice and shared life will profit you more than a written discourse. Ep. 6.5In rem praesentem veniās oportet, prīmum, quia hominēs amplius oculīs quam auribus crēdunt;You must come to the scene itself, first, because men trust their eyes more than their ears; Ep. 6.5deinde, quia longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficāx per exempla.second, because the road through precepts is long, through examples short and effective.
Ep. 6.6Zēnōnem Cleanthēs nōn expressisset, sī tantummodo audīsset;Cleanthes would not have reproduced Zeno if he had only heard him; Ep. 6.6vītae eius interfuit, sēcrēta perspexit, observāvit illum, an ex fōrmulā suā vīveret.he shared his life, saw into his secrets, watched him to see whether he lived by his own rule. Ep. 6.6Platōn et Aristotelēs et omnis in dīversum itūra sapientium turba plūs ex mōribus quam ex verbīs Sōcratis trāxit;Plato and Aristotle and the whole crowd of wise men who were to go their different ways drew more from the character than from the words of Socrates; Ep. 6.6Mētrodōrum et Hermarchum et Polyaenum magnōs virōs nōn schola Epicūrī sed contubernium fēcit.it was not the school of Epicurus but living under the same roof with him that made Metrodorus, Hermarchus and Polyaenus great men. Ep. 6.6Nec in hoc tē accersō tantum, ut prōficiās, sed ut prōsīs;And I do not summon you only that you may make progress, but that you may do good; Ep. 6.6plūrimum enim alter alterī cōnferēmus.for we shall contribute a very great deal to each other.
Ep. 6.7Interim quoniam diurnam tibi mercēdulam dēbeō, quid mē hodiē apud Hecatōnem dēlectāverit dīcam.Meanwhile, since I owe you your little daily wage, I will tell you what delighted me today in Hecato. Ep. 6.7"Quaeris," inquit, "quid prōfēcerim?'Do you ask,' he says, 'what progress I have made? Ep. 6.7Amīcus esse mihi coepī."I have begun to be a friend to myself.' Ep. 6.7Multum prōfēcit;He has made great progress; Ep. 6.7numquam erit sōlus.he will never be alone. Ep. 6.7Scītō hunc amīcum omnibus esse.Know that such a man is a friend to all. Ep. 6.7Valē.Farewell.