Letter 64
Yesterday you were with us. You might
complain if I said "yesterday" merely. This is why I have added "with
us." For, so far as I am concerned, you are always with me. Certain
friends had happened in, on whose account a somewhat brighter fire was
laid, - not the kind that generally bursts from the kitchen chimneys of
the rich and scares the watch, but the moderate blaze which means that
guests have come. Our talk ran on various themes, as is natural at
a dinner; it pursued no chain of thought to the end, but jumped from one
topic to another. We then had read to us a book by Quintus Sextius
the Elder. He is a great man, if you have any confidence in my opinion,
and a real Stoic, though he himself denies it. Ye Gods, what strength
and spirit one finds in him! This is not the case with all philosophers;
there are some men of illustrious name whose writings are sapless.
They lay down rules, they argue, and they quibble; they do not infuse spirit
simply because they have no spirit. But when you come to read Sextius
you will say: "He is alive; he is strong; he is free; he is more than a
man; he fills me with a mighty confidence before I close his book." I shall
acknowledge to you the state of mind I am in when I read his works:
I want to challenge every hazard; I want to cry: "Why keep me waiting,
Fortune? Enter the lists! Behold, I am ready for you!"
I assume the spirit of a man who seeks where h e may make trial of himself
where he may show his
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And fretting 'mid the unwarlike flocks he prays
Some foam-flecked boar may cross his path, or else
A tawny lion stalking down the hills.
I want something to overcome, something on which I may test my endurance.
For this is another remarkable quality that Sextius possesses: he will
show you the grandeur of the happy life and yet will not make you des pair
of attaining it; you will undederstand that it is on high, but that it
is aceessible to him who has the will to seek it.
And virtue herself will have the same effect
upon you, of making you admire her and yet hope to attain her. In
my own case, at any rate the very contemplation of wisdom takes much of
my time; I gaze upon her with bewilderment, just as I sometimes gaze upon
the firmament itself, which I often behold as if I saw it for the first
time. Hence I worship the discoveries of wisdom and their discoverers;
to enter, as it were, into the inheritance of many predecessors is a delight.
It was for me that they laid up this treasure; it was for me that they
toiled. But we should play the part of a careful householder; we
should increase what we have inherited. This inheritance shall pass
from me to my descendants larger than before. Much still remains
to do, and much will always remain, and he who shall be born a thousand
ages hence will not be barred from his opporttinitv of adding something
further. But even if the old masters have discovered everything,
one thing will be always new, - the application and the scientific study
and classification of the discoveries made by others. Assume that
prescriptions have been handed down to us for the healing of the eyes;
there is no need of my searching for others in addition; but
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for all that, these prescriptions must be adapted to the particular
disease and to the particular stage of the disease. Use this prescription
to relieve granulation of the eyelids, that to reduce the swelling of the
lids, this to prevent sudden pain or a rush of tears, that to sharpen the
vision. Then compound these several prescriptions, watch for the
right time of their application, and supply the proper treatment in each
case.
The cures for the spirit also have been discovered
by the ancients; but it is our task to learn the method and the time of
treatment. Our predecessors have worked much improvement, but have
not worked out the problem. They deserve respect, however, and should
be worshipped with a divine ritual. Why should I not keep statues
of great men to kindle my enthusiasm, and celebrate their birthdays?
Why should I not continually greet them with respect and honour?
The reverence which I owe to my own teachers I owe in like measure to those
teachers of the human race, the source from which the beginnings of such
great blessings have flowed. If I meet a consul or a praetor, I shall
pay him all the honour which his post of honour is wont to receive:
I shall dismount, uncover, and yield the road. What, then?
Shall I admit into my soul with less than the highest marks of respect
Marcus Cato, the Elder and the Younger, Laelius the Wise, Socrates and
Plato, Zeno and Cleanthes? I worship them in very truth, and always
rise to do honour to such noble names. Farewell.
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Latin / Greek Original
[1] Fuisti here nobiscum. Potes queri, si here tantum; ideo adieci 'nobiscum'; mecum enim semper es. Intervenerant quidam amici propter quos maior fumus fieret, non hic qui erumpere ex lautorum culinis et terrere vigiles solet, sed hic modicus qui hospites venisse significet. [2] Varius nobis fuit sermo, ut in convivio, nullam rem usque ad exitum adducens sed aliunde alio transiliens. Lectus est deinde liber Quinti Sextii patris, magni, si quid mihi credis, viri, et licet neget Stoici. [3] Quantus in illo, di boni, vigor est, quantum animi! Hoc non in omnibus philosophis invenies: quorundam scripta clarum habentium nomen exanguia sunt. Instituunt, disputant, cavillantur, non faciunt animum quia non habent: cum legeris Sextium, dices, 'vivit, viget, liber es, supra hominem est, dimittit me plenum ingentis fiduciae'. [4] In qua positione mentis sim cum hunc lego fatebor tibi: libet omnis casus provocare, libet exclamare, 'quid cessas, fortuna? congredere: paratum vides'. Illius animum induo qui quaerit ubi se experiatur, ubi virtutem suam ostendat,
[5] Libet aliquid habere quod vincam, cuius patientia exercear. Nam hoc quoque egregium Sextius habet, quod et ostendet tibi beatae vitae magnitudinem et desperationem eius non faciet: scies esse illam in excelso, sed volenti penetrabilem. [6] Hoc idem virtus tibi ipsa praestabit, ut illam admireris et tamen speres. Mihi certe multum auferre temporis solet contemplatio ipsa sapientiae; non aliter illam intueor obstupefactus quam ipsum interim mundum, quem saepe tamquam spectator novus video. [7] Veneror itaque inventa sapientiae inventoresque; adire tamquam multorum hereditatem iuvat. Mihi ista acquisita, mihi laborata sunt. Sed agamus bonum patrem familiae, faciamus ampliora quae accepimus; maior ista hereditas a me ad posteros transeat. Multum adhuc restat operis multumque restabit, nec ulli nato post mille saecula praecludetur occasio aliquid adhuc adiciendi. [8] Sed etiam si omnia a veteribus inventa sunt, hoc semper novum erit, usus et inventorum ab aliis scientia ac dispositio. Puta relicta nobis medicamenta quibus sanarentur oculi: non opus est mihi alia quaerere, sed haec tamen morbis et temporibus aptanda sunt. Hoc asperitas oculorum collevatur; hoc palpebrarum crassitudo tenuatur; hoc vis subita et umor avertitur; hoc acuetur visus: teras ista oportet et eligas tempus, adhibeas singulis modum. Animi remedia inventa sunt ab antiquis; quomodo autem admoveantur aut quando nostri operis est quaerere. [9] Multum egerunt qui ante nos fuerunt, sed non peregerunt. Suspiciendi tamen sunt et ritu deorum colendi. Quidni ego magnorum virorum et imagines habeam incitamenta animi et natales celebrem? quidni ego illos honoris causa semper appellem? Quam venerationem praeceptoribus meis debeo, eandem illis praeceptoribus generis humani, a quibus tanti boni initia fluxerunt. [10] Si consulem videro aut praetorem, omnia quibus honor haberi honori solet faciam: equo desiliam, caput adaperiam, semita cedam. Quid ergo? Marcum Catonem utrumque et Laelium Sapientem et Socraten cum Platone et Zenonem Cleanthenque in animum meum sine dignatione summa recipiam? Ego vero illos veneror et tantis nominibus semper assurgo. Vale.