Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -46 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
I shall overcome my feelings, I think, and go on from Lanuvium to the Tusculan villa. For either I must do without that estate forever (since the same grief will remain, only more hidden), or I do not see what difference it makes whether I go there now or ten years hence. The place itself will not remind me of my loss more than the thoughts that consume me day and night, wherever I am. You will ask whether books give me no comfort. They serve their purpose, but the wound is too deep for any remedy. I shall write to you from there.
vincam, opinor, animum et Lanuvio pergam in Tusculanum. aut enim mihi in perpetuum fundo illo carendum est (nam dolor idem manebit, tantum modo occultius) aut nescio quid intersit utrum illuc nunc veniam an ad decem annos. neque enim ista maior admonitio quam quibus adsidue conficior et dies et noctes. 'quid ergo?' inquies, 'nihil litterae?' in hac quidem re vereor ne etiam contra; nam essem fortasse durior. exculto enim animo nihil agreste, nihil inhumanum est. [2] tu igitur, ut scripsisti, nec id incommodo tuo. vel binae enim poterunt litterae. occurram etiam si necesse erit. ergo id quidem ut poteris.
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I shall overcome my feelings, I think, and go on from Lanuvium to the Tusculan villa. For either I must do without that estate forever (since the same grief will remain, only more hidden), or I do not see what difference it makes whether I go there now or ten years hence. The place itself will not remind me of my loss more than the thoughts that consume me day and night, wherever I am. You will ask whether books give me no comfort. They serve their purpose, but the wound is too deep for any remedy. I shall write to you from there.
Latin / Greek Original
vincam, opinor, animum et Lanuvio pergam in Tusculanum. aut enim mihi in perpetuum fundo illo carendum est (nam dolor idem manebit, tantum modo occultius) aut nescio quid intersit utrum illuc nunc veniam an ad decem annos. neque enim ista maior admonitio quam quibus adsidue conficior et dies et noctes. 'quid ergo?' inquies, 'nihil litterae?' in hac quidem re vereor ne etiam contra; nam essem fortasse durior. exculto enim animo nihil agreste, nihil inhumanum est. [2] tu igitur, ut scripsisti, nec id incommodo tuo. vel binae enim poterunt litterae. occurram etiam si necesse erit. ergo id quidem ut poteris.