Lucius Annaeus Seneca→Lucilius Junior|c. 64 AD|Seneca the Younger|From Rome|To Sicily|AI-assisted
Do you ask how the news reached me, and who
informed me, that you were entertaining this idea, of which you had said
nothing to a single soul? It was that most knowing of persons, -
gossip. "What," you say, "am I such a great personage that I can stir up
gossip?" Now there is no reason why you should measure yourself according
to this part of the world; have regard only to the place where you are
dwelling. Any point which rises above adjacent points is great, at the
spot where it rises. For greatness is not absolute; comparison increases
it or lessens it. A ship which looms large in the river seems tiny
when on the ocean. A rudder which is large for one vessel, is small for
another.
So you in your province are really of importance,
though you scorn yourself. Men are asking what you do, how you dine,
and how you sleep, and they find out, too; hence there is all the more
reason for your living circumspectly. Do not, however, deem yourself
truly happy until you find that you can live before men's eyes, until your
walls protect but do not hide you; although we are apt to believe that
these walls surround us, not to enable us to live more safely, but that
we may sin more secretly. I shall mention a fact by which you may weigh
the worth of a man's character: you will scarcely find anyone
<Ep1-285>
[1] Quomodo hoc ad me pervenerit quaeris, quis mihi id te cogitare narraverit quod tu nulli narraveras? Is qui scit plurimum, rumor. 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'tantus sum ut possim excitare rumorem?' Non est quod te ad hunc locum respiciens metiaris: ad istum respice in quo moraris. [2] Quidquid inter vicina eminet magnum est illic ubi eminet; nam magnitudo non habet modum certum: comparatio illam aut tollit aut deprimit. Navis quae in flumine magna est in mari parvula est; gubernaculum quod alteri navi magnum alteri exiguum est. [3] Tu nunc in provincia, licet contemnas ipse te, magnus es. Quid agas, quemadmodum cenes, quemadmodum dormias, quaeritur, scitur: eo tibi diligentius vivendum est. Tunc autem felicem esse te iudica cum poteris in publico vivere, cum te parietes tui tegent, non abscondent, quos plerumque circumdatos nobis iudicamus non ut tutius vivamus, sed ut peccemus occultius. [4] Rem dicam ex qua mores aestimes nostros: vix quemquam invenies qui possit aperto ostio vivere. Ianitores conscientia nostra, non superbia opposuit: sic vivimus ut deprendi sit subito aspici. Quid autem prodest recondere se et oculos hominum auresque vitare? [5] Bona conscientia turbam advocat, mala etiam in solitudine anxia atque sollicita est. Si honesta sunt quae facis, omnes sciant; si turpia, quid refert neminem scire cum tu scias? O te miserum si contemnis hunc testem! Vale.
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Do you ask how the news reached me, and who informed me, that you were entertaining this idea, of which you had said nothing to a single soul? It was that most knowing of persons, - gossip. "What," you say, "am I such a great personage that I can stir up gossip?" Now there is no reason why you should measure yourself according to this part of the world; have regard only to the place where you are dwelling. Any point which rises above adjacent points is great, at the spot where it rises. For greatness is not absolute; comparison increases it or lessens it. A ship which looms large in the river seems tiny when on the ocean. A rudder which is large for one vessel, is small for another. So you in your province are really of importance, though you scorn yourself. Men are asking what you do, how you dine, and how you sleep, and they find out, too; hence there is all the more reason for your living circumspectly. Do not, however, deem yourself truly happy until you find that you can live before men's eyes, until your walls protect but do not hide you; although we are apt to believe that these walls surround us, not to enable us to live more safely, but that we may sin more secretly. I shall mention a fact by which you may weigh the worth of a man's character: you will scarcely find anyone <Ep1-285>
Latin / Greek Original
[1] Quomodo hoc ad me pervenerit quaeris, quis mihi id te cogitare narraverit quod tu nulli narraveras? Is qui scit plurimum, rumor. 'Quid ergo?' inquis 'tantus sum ut possim excitare rumorem?' Non est quod te ad hunc locum respiciens metiaris: ad istum respice in quo moraris. [2] Quidquid inter vicina eminet magnum est illic ubi eminet; nam magnitudo non habet modum certum: comparatio illam aut tollit aut deprimit. Navis quae in flumine magna est in mari parvula est; gubernaculum quod alteri navi magnum alteri exiguum est. [3] Tu nunc in provincia, licet contemnas ipse te, magnus es. Quid agas, quemadmodum cenes, quemadmodum dormias, quaeritur, scitur: eo tibi diligentius vivendum est. Tunc autem felicem esse te iudica cum poteris in publico vivere, cum te parietes tui tegent, non abscondent, quos plerumque circumdatos nobis iudicamus non ut tutius vivamus, sed ut peccemus occultius. [4] Rem dicam ex qua mores aestimes nostros: vix quemquam invenies qui possit aperto ostio vivere. Ianitores conscientia nostra, non superbia opposuit: sic vivimus ut deprendi sit subito aspici. Quid autem prodest recondere se et oculos hominum auresque vitare? [5] Bona conscientia turbam advocat, mala etiam in solitudine anxia atque sollicita est. Si honesta sunt quae facis, omnes sciant; si turpia, quid refert neminem scire cum tu scias? O te miserum si contemnis hunc testem! Vale.