Letter 4

Keep on as you have begun, and hurry as much as you can, so that you may have longer enjoyment of a mind improved and at peace with itself. You will certainly take pleasure even while you are improving your mind and bringing it into peace; but a very different pleasure comes from contemplating a mind so cleansed from every stain that it shines. You remember, of course, the joy you felt when you put aside the dress of boyhood, took up the toga of a man, and were escorted to the forum. Expect a still greater joy when you put aside the mind of boyhood and wisdom enrolls you among grown men. It is not boyhood that remains in us, but something worse: childishness. The condition is more serious because we possess the authority of old age along with the follies of boys, and even the follies of infants. Boys fear trifles, children fear shadows, and we fear both. All you need to do is make progress. Then you will understand that some things are less to be feared precisely because they inspire such great fear. No evil is great if it is the last evil of all. Death arrives. It would be frightening if it could remain with you; but death either does not come, or comes and passes on. "It is difficult," you say, "to bring the mind to the point where it can look down on life." But do you not see what petty reasons drive people to despise life? One man hangs himself at his mistress's door. Another throws himself from a roof because he cannot bear the insults of a bad-tempered master. A third, to avoid arrest after running away, drives a sword into his body. Do you suppose virtue cannot accomplish what excessive fear accomplishes? No one can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it, or who believes that living through many consulships is a great blessing. Rehearse this thought every day, so that you may be able to leave life contentedly. Many people clutch and cling to life like those swept down a rushing stream who grab at thorns and jagged rocks. Most people drift miserably between fear of death and the hardships of life: unwilling to live, yet not knowing how to die. For this reason, make life as a whole pleasant to yourself by banishing anxiety over it. No good thing makes its possessor happy unless his mind is reconciled to losing it; yet nothing is lost with less distress than what cannot be missed once it is gone. So strengthen and toughen your spirit against the misfortunes that strike even the most powerful. Pompey's fate was settled by a boy and a eunuch; Crassus's by a cruel and insolent Parthian. Gaius Caesar ordered Lepidus to bare his neck for the tribune Dexter's axe, and Caesar himself offered his own throat to Chaerea. Fortune has never advanced anyone so high that she did not threaten him as much as she had favored him. Do not trust her calm appearance; in a moment the sea is stirred to its depths. The very day ships make a brave display in the games, they are swallowed up. Remember that a bandit or an enemy may cut your throat; and even if no one is your master, every enslaved person has power over your life and death. So I tell you: whoever despises his own life is master of yours. Think of those who have died through plots in their own homes, killed either openly or by deceit. You will understand that as many have been killed by angry slaves as by angry kings. Why should it matter how powerful the person you fear is, when everyone possesses the power that makes you afraid? "But," you say, "if I happen to fall into the hands of the enemy, the conqueror will order me to be led away." Yes, led where you are already being led. Why deceive yourself on purpose and need to be told now, for the first time, the fate under which you have long been living? Take my word for it: since the day you were born, you have been led there. We must ponder this thought, and others like it, if we want to be calm as we await that final hour, whose fear makes every earlier hour uneasy. But I must end my letter. Let me share the saying that pleased me today. It too is gathered from another man's Garden: "Poverty brought into agreement with nature's law is great wealth." Do you know what limits that law of nature sets for us? Simply to ward off hunger, thirst, and cold. To banish hunger and thirst, you do not need to pay court at the doors of the purse-proud, submit to a grim frown, or endure the kindness that humiliates. You do not need to scour the seas or follow the army. What nature requires is easy to obtain and close at hand. It is for superfluous things that people sweat: the things that wear our togas threadbare, force us to grow old in camp, and drive us onto foreign shores. What is enough is within reach. A person who has made an honorable compact with poverty is rich. Farewell.

Keep on as you have begun, and make all possible haste, so that you may have longer enjoyment of an improved mind, one that is at peace with itself. Doubtless you will derive enjoyment during the time when you are improving your mind and setting it at peace with itself; but quite different is the pleasure which comes from contemplation when one’s mind is so cleansed from every stain that it shines. You remember, of course, what joy you felt when you laid aside the garments of boyhood and donned the man’s toga, and were escorted to the forum; nevertheless, you may look for a still greater joy when you have laid aside the mind of boyhood and when wisdom has enrolled you among men. For it is not boyhood that still stays with us, but something worse,—boyishness. And this condition is all the more serious because we possess the authority of old age, together with the follies of boyhood, yea, even the follies of infancy. Boys fear trifles, children fear shadows, we fear both. All you need to do is to advance; you will thus understand that some things are less to be dreaded, precisely because they inspire us with great fear. No evil is great which is the last evil of all. Death arrives; it would be a thing to dread, if it could remain with you. But death must either not come at all, or else must come and pass away. “It is difficult, however,” you say, “to bring the mind to a point where it can scorn life.” But do you not see what trifling reasons impel men to scorn life? One hangs himself before the door of his mistress; another hurls himself from the house-top that he may no longer be compelled to bear the taunts of a bad-tempered master; a third, to be saved from arrest after running away, drives a sword into his vitals. Do you not suppose that virtue will be as efficacious as excessive fear? No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it, or believes that living through many consulships is a great blessing. Rehearse this thought every day, that you may be able to depart from life contentedly; for many men clutch and cling to life, even as those who are carried down a rushing stream clutch and cling to briars and sharp rocks. Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die. For this reason, make life as a whole agreeable to yourself by banishing all worry about it. No good thing renders its possessor happy, unless his mind is reconciled to the possibility of loss; nothing, however, is lost with less discomfort than that which, when lost, cannot be missed. Therefore, encourage and toughen your spirit against the mishaps that afflict even the most powerful. For example, the fate of Pompey was settled by a boy and a eunuch, that of Crassus by a cruel and insolent Parthian. Gaius Caesar ordered Lepidus to bare his neck for the axe of the tribune Dexter; and he himself offered his own throat to Chaerea. No man has ever been so far advanced by Fortune that she did not threaten him as greatly as she had previously indulged him. Do not trust her seeming calm; in a moment the sea is moved to its depths. The very day the ships have made a brave show in the games, they are engulfed. Reflect that a highwayman or an enemy may cut your throat; and, though he is not your master, every slave wields the power of life and death over you. Therefore I declare to you: he is lord of your life that scorns his own. Think of those who have perished through plots in their own homes, slain either openly or by guile; you will then understand that just as many have been killed by angry slaves as by angry kings. What matter, therefore, how powerful he be whom you fear, when every one possesses the power which inspires your fear? “But,” you will say, “if you should chance to fall into the hands of the enemy, the conqueror will command that you be led away,”—yes, whither you are already being led. Why do you voluntarily deceive yourself and require to be told now for the first time what fate it is that you have long been labouring under? Take my word for it: since the day you were born you are being led thither. We must ponder this thought, and thoughts of the like nature, if we desire to be calm as we await that last hour, the fear of which makes all previous hours uneasy. But I must end my letter. Let me share with you the saying which pleased me to-day. It, too, is culled from another man’s Garden: “Poverty brought into conformity with the law of nature, is great wealth.” Do you know what limits that law of nature ordains for us? Merely to avert hunger, thirst, and cold. In order to banish hunger and thirst, it is not necessary for you to pay court at the doors of the purse-proud, or to submit to the stern frown, or to the kindness that humiliates; nor is it necessary for you to scour the seas, or go campaigning; nature's needs are easily provided and ready to hand. It is the superfluous things for which men sweat,—the superfluous things that wear our togas threadbare, that force us to grow old in camp, that dash us upon foreign shores. That which is enough is ready to our hands. He who has made a fair compact with poverty is rich. Farewell.

[1] Persevera ut coepisti et quantum potes propera, quo diutius frui emendato animo et composito possis. Frueris quidem etiam dum emendas, etiam dum componis: alia tamen illa voluptas est quae percipitur ex contemplatione mentis ab omni labe purae et splendidae. [2] Tenes utique memoria quantum senseris gaudium cum praetexta posita sumpsisti virilem togam et in forum deductus es: maius expecta cum puerilem animum deposueris et te in viros philosophia transscripserit. Adhuc enim non pueritia sed, quod est gravius, puerilitas remanet; et hoc quidem peior est, quod auctoritatem habemus senum, vitia puerorum, nec puerorum tantum sed infantum: illi levia, hi falsa formidant, nos utraque. [3] Profice modo: intelleges quaedam ideo minus timenda quia multum metus afferunt. Nullum malum magnum quod extremum est. Mors ad te venit: timenda erat si tecum esse posset: necesse est aut non perveniat aut transeat. [4] 'Difficile est' inquis 'animum perducere ad contemptionem animae.' Non vides quam ex frivolis causis contemnatur? Alius ante amicae fores laqueo pependit, alius se praecipitavit e tecto ne dominum stomachantem diutius audiret, alius ne reduceretur e fuga ferrum adegit in viscera: non putas virtutem hoc effecturam quod efficit nimia formido? Nulli potest secura vita contingere qui de producenda nimis cogitat, qui inter magna bona multos consules numerat. [5] Hoc cotidie meditare, ut possis aequo animo vitam relinquere, quam multi sic complectuntur et tenent quomodo qui aqua torrente rapiuntur spinas et aspera. Plerique inter mortis metum et vitae tormenta miseri fluctuantur et vivere nolunt, mori nesciunt. [6] Fac itaque tibi iucundam vitam omnem pro illa sollicitudinem deponendo. Nullum bonum adiuvat habentem nisi ad cuius amissionem praeparatus est animus; nullius autem rei facilior amissio est quam quae desiderari amissa non potest. Ergo adversus haec quae incidere possunt etiam potentissimis adhortare te et indura. [7] De Pompei capite pupillus et spado tulere sententiam, de Crasso crudelis et insolens Parthus; Gaius Caesar iussit Lepidum Dextro tribuno praebere cervicem, ipse Chaereae praestitit; neminem eo fortuna provexit ut non tantum illi minaretur quantum permiserat. Noli huic tranquillitati confidere: momento mare evertitur; eodem die ubi luserunt navigia sorbentur. [8] Cogita posse et latronem et hostem admovere iugulo tuo gladium; ut potestas maior absit, nemo non servus habet in te vitae necisque arbitrium. Ita dico: quisquis vitam suam contempsit tuae dominus est. Recognosce exempla eorum qui domesticis insidiis perierunt, aut aperta vi aut dolo: intelleges non pauciores servorum ira cecidisse quam regum. Quid ad te itaque quam potens sit quem times, cum id propter quod times nemo non possit? [9] At si forte in manus hostium incideris, victor te duci iubebit - eo nempe quo duceris. Quid te ipse decipis et hoc nunc primum quod olim patiebaris intellegis? Ita dico: ex quo natus es, duceris. Haec et eiusmodi versanda in animo sunt si volumus ultimam illam horam placidi exspectare cuius metus omnes alias inquietas facit. [10] Sed ut finem epistulae imponam, accipe quod mihi hodierno die placuit - et hoc quoque ex alienis hortulis sumptum est: 'magnae divitiae sunt lege naturae composita paupertas'. Lex autem illa naturae scis quos nobis terminos statuat? Non esurire, non sitire, non algere. Ut famem sitimque depellas non est necesse superbis assidere liminibus nec supercilium grave et contumeliosam etiam humanitatem pati, non est necesse maria temptare nec sequi castra: parabile est quod natura desiderat et appositum. [11] Ad supervacua sudatur; illa sunt quae togam conterunt, quae nos senescere sub tentorio cogunt, quae in aliena litora impingunt: ad manum est quod sat est. Cui cum paupertate bene convenit dives est. Vale.