Lucius Annaeus Seneca→Lucilius Junior|c. 63 AD|Seneca the Younger|From Rome|To Sicily|AI-assisted
You are right when you urge that we increase our
mutual traffic in letters. But the greatest benefit is to be derived
from conversation, because it creeps by degrees into the soul. Lectures
prepared beforehand and spouted in the presence of a throng have in them
more noise but less intimacy. Philosophy is good advice; and no one
can give advice at the top of his lungs. Of course we must sometimes
also make use of these harangues, if I may so call them, when a doubting
member needs to be spurred on; but when the aim is to make a man learn
and not merely to make him wish to learn, we must have recourse to the
low-toned words of conversation. They enter more easily, and stick in the
memory; for we do not need many words, but, rather, effective words.
Words should be scattered like seed; no matter
how small the seed may be, if it has once found favourablc ground, it unfolds
its strength and from an insignificant thing spreads to its greatest growth.
<Ep1-257>
[1] Merito exigis ut hoc inter nos epistularum commercium frequentemus. Plurimum proficit sermo, quia minutatim irrepit animo: disputationes praeparatae et effusae audiente populo plus habent strepitus, minus familiaritatis. Philosophia bonum consilium est: consilium nemo clare dat. Aliquando utendum est et illis, ut ita dicam, contionibus, ubi qui dubitat impellendus est; ubi vero non hoc agendum est, ut velit discere, sed ut discat, ad haec submissiora verba veniendum est. Facilius intrant et haerent; nec enim multis opus est sed efficacibus. [2] Seminis modo spargenda sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum occupavit idoneum locum, vires suas explicat et ex minimo in maximos auctus diffunditur. Idem facit ratio: non late patet, si aspicias; in opere crescit. Pauca sunt quae dicuntur, sed si illa animus bene excepit, convalescunt et exsurgunt. Eadem est, inquam, praeceptorum condicio quae seminum: multum efficiunt, et angusta sunt. Tantum, ut dixi, idonea mens rapiat illa et in se trahat; multa invicem et ipsa generabit et plus reddet quam acceperit. Vale.
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You are right when you urge that we increase our mutual traffic in letters. But the greatest benefit is to be derived from conversation, because it creeps by degrees into the soul. Lectures prepared beforehand and spouted in the presence of a throng have in them more noise but less intimacy. Philosophy is good advice; and no one can give advice at the top of his lungs. Of course we must sometimes also make use of these harangues, if I may so call them, when a doubting member needs to be spurred on; but when the aim is to make a man learn and not merely to make him wish to learn, we must have recourse to the low-toned words of conversation. They enter more easily, and stick in the memory; for we do not need many words, but, rather, effective words. Words should be scattered like seed; no matter how small the seed may be, if it has once found favourablc ground, it unfolds its strength and from an insignificant thing spreads to its greatest growth. <Ep1-257>
Latin / Greek Original
[1] Merito exigis ut hoc inter nos epistularum commercium frequentemus. Plurimum proficit sermo, quia minutatim irrepit animo: disputationes praeparatae et effusae audiente populo plus habent strepitus, minus familiaritatis. Philosophia bonum consilium est: consilium nemo clare dat. Aliquando utendum est et illis, ut ita dicam, contionibus, ubi qui dubitat impellendus est; ubi vero non hoc agendum est, ut velit discere, sed ut discat, ad haec submissiora verba veniendum est. Facilius intrant et haerent; nec enim multis opus est sed efficacibus. [2] Seminis modo spargenda sunt, quod quamvis sit exiguum, cum occupavit idoneum locum, vires suas explicat et ex minimo in maximos auctus diffunditur. Idem facit ratio: non late patet, si aspicias; in opere crescit. Pauca sunt quae dicuntur, sed si illa animus bene excepit, convalescunt et exsurgunt. Eadem est, inquam, praeceptorum condicio quae seminum: multum efficiunt, et angusta sunt. Tantum, ut dixi, idonea mens rapiat illa et in se trahat; multa invicem et ipsa generabit et plus reddet quam acceperit. Vale.