Letter 42
Has that friend of yours already made you believe that he is
a good man? And yet it is impossible in so short a time for one either
to become good or be known as such. Do you know what kind of man I now
mean when I speak of "a good man"? I mean one of the second grade,
like your friend. For one of the first class perhaps springs into
existence, like the phoenix, only once in five hundred years. And
it is not surprising, either, that greatness develops only at long intervals;
Fortune often brings into being commonplace powers, which are born to please
the mob; but she holds up for our approval that which is extraordinary
by the very fact that she makes it rare.
This man, however, of whom you spoke, is still
far from the state which he professes to have reached. And if he
knew what it meant to be "a good man," he would not yet believe himself
such; perhaps he would even despair of his ability to become good. "But,"
you say, "he thinks ill of evil men." Well, so do evil men themselves;
and there is no worse penalty for vice than the fact that it is dissatisfied
with itself and all its fellows. "But he hates those who make an ungoverned
use of great power suddenly acquired." I retort that he will do the
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same thing as soon as he acquires the same powers. In the case
of many men, their vices, being powerless, escape notice; although, as
soon as the persons in question have become satisfied with their own strength,
the vices will be no less daring than those which prosperity has already
disclosed. These men simply lack the means whereby they may unfold
their wickedness. Similarly, one can handle even a poisonous snake
while it is stiff with cold; the poison is not lacking; it is merely numbed
into inaction. In the case of many men, their cruelty, ambition, and indulgence
only lack the favour of Fortune to make them dare crimes that would match
the worst. That their wishes are the same you will in a moment discover,
in this way: give them the power equal to their wishes.
Do you remember how, when you declared that
a certain person was under your influence, I pronounced him fickle and
a bird of passage, and said that you held him not by the foot but merely
by a wing? Was I mistaken? You grasped him only by a feather;
he left it in your hands and escaped. You know what an exhibition
he afterwards made of himself before you, how many of the things he attempted
were to recoil upon his own head. He did not see that in endangering
others he was tottering to his own downfall. He did not reflect how
burdensome were the objects which he was bent upon attaining, even if they
were not superfluous.
Therefore, with regard to the objects which
we pursue, and for which we strive with great effort, we should note this
truth; either there is nothing desirable in them, or the undesirable is
preponderant. Some objects are superfluous; others are not worth
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the price we pay for them. But we do not see this clearly, and
we regard things as free gifts when they really cost us very dear.
Our stupidity may be clearly proved by the fact that we hold that "buying"
refers only to the objects for which we pay cash, and we regard as free
gifts the things for which we spend our very selves. These we should
refuse to buy, if we were compelled to give in payment for them our houses
or some attractive and profitable estate; but we are eager to attain them
at the cost of anxiety, of danger, and of lost honour, personal freedom,
and time; so true it is that each man regards nothing as cheaper than himself.
Let us therefore act, in all our plans and
conduct, just as we are accustomed to act whenever we approach a huckster
who has certain wares for sale; let us see how much we must pay for that
which we crave. Very often the things that cost nothing cost us the
most heavily; I can show you many objects the quest and acquisition of
which have wrested freedom from our hands. We should belong to ourselves,
if only these things did not belong to us.
I would therefore have you reflect thus, not
only when it is a question of gain, but also when it is a question of loss.
"This object is bound to perish." Yes, it was a mere extra; you will live
without it just as easily as you have lived before. If you have possessed
it for a long time, you lose it after you have had your fill of it; if
you have not possessed it long, then you lose it before you have become
wedded to it. "You will have less money." Yes, and less trouble. "Less
influence." Yes, and less envy. Look about you and note the things
that drive us mad, which we lose with a flood of tears; you will perceive
that it is not the loss that troubles us with
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Latin / Greek Original
[1] Iam tibi iste persuasit virum se bonum esse? Atqui vir bonus tam cito nec fieri potest nec intellegi. Scis quem nunc virum bonum dicam? hunc secundae notae; nam ille alter fortasse tamquam phoenix semel anno quingentesimo nascitur. Nec est mirum ex intervallo magna generari: mediocria et in turbam nascentia saepe fortuna producit, eximia vero ipsa raritate commendat. [2] Sed iste multum adhuc abest ab eo quod profitetur; et si sciret quid esset vir bonus, nondum esse se crederet, fortasse etiam fieri posse desperaret. 'At male existimat de malis.' Hoc etiam mali faciunt, nec ulla maior poena nequitiaest quam quod sibi ac suis displicet. [3] 'At odit eos qui subita et magna potentia impotenter utuntur.' Idem faciet cum idem potuerit. Multorum quia imbecilla sunt latent vitia, non minus ausura cum illis vires suae placuerint quam illa quae iam felicitas aperuit. Instrumenta illis explicandae nequitiae desunt. [4] Sic tuto serpens etiam pestifera tractatur dum riget frigore: non desunt tunc illi venena sed torpent. Multorum crudelitas et ambitio et luxuria, ut paria pessimis audeat, fortunae favore deficitur. Eadem velle [subaudi si] cognosces: da posse quantum volunt. [5] Meministi, cum quendam affirmares esse in tua potestate, dixisse me volaticum esse ac levem et te non pedem eius tenere sed pinnam? Mentitus sum: pluma tenebatur, quam remisit et fugit. Scis quos postea tibi exhibuerit ludos, quam multa in caput suum casura temptaverit. Non videbat se per aliorum pericula in suum ruere non cogitabat quam onerosa essent quae petebat, etiam si supervacua non essent.
[6] Hoc itaque in his quae affectamus, ad quae labore magno contendimus, inspicere debemus, aut nihil in illis commodi esse aut plus incommodi: quaedam supervacua sunt, quaedam tanti non sunt. Sed hoc non pervidemus et gratuita nobis videntur quae carissime constant. [7] Ex eo licet stupor noster appareat, quod ea sola putamus emi pro quibus pecuniam solvimus, ea gratuita vocamus pro quibus nos ipsos impendimus. Quae emere nollemus si domus nobis nostra pro illis esset danda, si amoenum aliquod fructuosumve praedium, ad ea paratissimi sumus pervenire cum sollicitudine, cum periculo, cum iactura pudoris et libertatis et temporis; adeo nihil est cuique se vilius. [8] Idem itaque in omnibus consiliis rebusque faciamus quod solemus facere quotiens ad institorem alicuius mercis accessimus: videamus hoc quod concupiscimus quanti deferatur. Saepe maximum pretium est pro quo nullum datur. Multa possum tibi ostendere quae acquisita acceptaque libertatem nobis extorserint; nostri essemus, si ista nostra non essent. [9] Haec ergo tecum ipse versa, non solum ubi de incremento agetur, sed etiam ubi de iactura. 'Hoc periturum est.' Nempe adventicium fuit; tam facile sine isto vives quam vixisti. Si diu illud habuisti, perdis postquam satiatus es; si non diu, perdis antequam assuescas. 'Pecuniam minorem habebis.' Nempe et molestiam. [10] 'Gratiam minorem.' Nempe et invidiam. Circumspice ista quae nos agunt in insaniam, quae cum plurimis lacrimis amittimus: scies non damnum in iis molestum esse, sed opinionem damni. Nemo illa perisse sentit sed cogitat. Qui se habet nihil perdidit: sed quoto cuique habere se contigit? Vale.