Lucius Annaeus Seneca→Lucilius Junior|c. 65 AD|Seneca the Younger|From Southern Italy (regional)|To Sicily (regional)|AI-assisted
I genuinely wish, by Hercules, that your friend could be shaped and trained as you desire, but he is being taken in hand while very hard set; or rather, what is more troublesome, he is being taken in hand while very soft, broken down by long-standing bad habit. Let me give you an illustration from our own craft. Not every vine tolerates grafting: if it is old and eaten away, if it is weak and slender, it will either not receive the cutting, or will not feed it, nor draw it to itself, nor pass over into its quality and nature. And so we are accustomed to cut the vine off above the ground, so that, if it does not respond, a second turn of fortune may be tried, and the graft may be set in again below the ground. This man you write to me about and commend to my care has no strength: he has given free rein to his vices. He has at the same time both gone limp and grown hard; he cannot receive reason, he cannot nourish it. 'But he himself desires it.' Do not believe it. I am not saying he is lying to you: he thinks he desires it. His self-indulgence has upset his stomach: he will soon be back on good terms with it. 'But he says he is offended by his own way of life.' I would not deny it; for who is not offended? Men both love and hate their vices at the same time. We will pass judgment on him, then, when he has given us proof that his self-indulgence has truly become hateful to him: as it is now, he and his vices are merely not on speaking terms. Farewell.
I am indeed anxious that your friend be moulded and trained, according to your desire. But he has been taken in a very hardened state, or rather (and this is a more difficult problem), in a very soft state, broken down by bad and inveterate habits.
I should like to give you an illustration from my own handicraft. It is not every vine that admits the grafting process; if it be old and decayed, or if it be weak and slender, the vine either will not receive the cutting, or will not nourish it and make it a part of itself, nor will it accommodate itself to the qualities and nature of the grafted part. Hence we usually cut off the vine above ground, so that if we do not get results at first, we may try a second venture, and on a second trial graft it below the ground.
Now this person, concerning whom you have sent me your message in writing, has no strength; for he has pampered his vices. He has at one and the same time become flabby and hardened. He cannot receive reason, nor can he nourish it. “But,” you say, “he desires reason of his own free will.” Don’t believe him. Of course I do not mean that he is lying to you; for he really thinks that he desires it. Luxury has merely upset his stomach; he will soon become reconciled to it again. “But he says that he is put out with his former way of living.” Very likely. Who is not? Men love and hate their vices at the same time. It will be the proper season to pass judgment on him when he has given us a guarantee that he really hates luxury; as it is now, luxury and he are merely not on speaking terms. Farewell.
[1] Cupio mehercules amicum tuum formari ut desideras etinstitui, sed valde durus capitur; immo, quod est molestius, valde mollis capitur et consuetudine mala ac diutina fractus. Volo tibi ex nostro artificio exemplum referre. [2] Non quaelibet insitionem vitis patitur: si vetus et exesa est, si infirma gracilisque, aut non recipiet surculum aut non alet nec adplicabit sibi nec in qualitatem eius naturamque transibit. Itaque solemus supra terram praecidere ut, si non respondit, temptari possit secunda fortuna et iterum repetita infra terram inseratur. [3] Hic de quo scribis et mandas non habet vires: indulsit vitiis. Simul et emarcuit et induruit; non potest recipere rationem, non potest nutrire. 'At cupit ipse.' Noli credere. Non dico illum mentiri tibi: putat se cupere. Stomachum illi fecit luxuria: cito cum illa redibit in gratiam. [4] 'Sed dicit se offendi vita sua.' Non negaverim; quis enim non offenditur? Homines vitia sua et amant simul et oderunt. Tunc itaque de illo feremus sententiam cum fidem nobis fecerit invisam iam sibi esse luxuriam: nunc illis male convenit. Vale.
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I genuinely wish, by Hercules, that your friend could be shaped and trained as you desire, but he is being taken in hand while very hard set; or rather, what is more troublesome, he is being taken in hand while very soft, broken down by long-standing bad habit. Let me give you an illustration from our own craft. Not every vine tolerates grafting: if it is old and eaten away, if it is weak and slender, it will either not receive the cutting, or will not feed it, nor draw it to itself, nor pass over into its quality and nature. And so we are accustomed to cut the vine off above the ground, so that, if it does not respond, a second turn of fortune may be tried, and the graft may be set in again below the ground. This man you write to me about and commend to my care has no strength: he has given free rein to his vices. He has at the same time both gone limp and grown hard; he cannot receive reason, he cannot nourish it. 'But he himself desires it.' Do not believe it. I am not saying he is lying to you: he thinks he desires it. His self-indulgence has upset his stomach: he will soon be back on good terms with it. 'But he says he is offended by his own way of life.' I would not deny it; for who is not offended? Men both love and hate their vices at the same time. We will pass judgment on him, then, when he has given us proof that his self-indulgence has truly become hateful to him: as it is now, he and his vices are merely not on speaking terms. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
[1] Cupio mehercules amicum tuum formari ut desideras etinstitui, sed valde durus capitur; immo, quod est molestius, valde mollis capitur et consuetudine mala ac diutina fractus. Volo tibi ex nostro artificio exemplum referre. [2] Non quaelibet insitionem vitis patitur: si vetus et exesa est, si infirma gracilisque, aut non recipiet surculum aut non alet nec adplicabit sibi nec in qualitatem eius naturamque transibit. Itaque solemus supra terram praecidere ut, si non respondit, temptari possit secunda fortuna et iterum repetita infra terram inseratur. [3] Hic de quo scribis et mandas non habet vires: indulsit vitiis. Simul et emarcuit et induruit; non potest recipere rationem, non potest nutrire. 'At cupit ipse.' Noli credere. Non dico illum mentiri tibi: putat se cupere. Stomachum illi fecit luxuria: cito cum illa redibit in gratiam. [4] 'Sed dicit se offendi vita sua.' Non negaverim; quis enim non offenditur? Homines vitia sua et amant simul et oderunt. Tunc itaque de illo feremus sententiam cum fidem nobis fecerit invisam iam sibi esse luxuriam: nunc illis male convenit. Vale.