CONSCIENCE. De Vit. Beat. 20. Nihil opinionis causâ, omnia conscientiæ faciam: populo teste fieri credam, quidquid me conscio faciam. I will do all things, not for opinion, but for conscience' sake: I shall believe that it is done in the sight of all men, whatsoever I do with my own knowledge. BENEFITS. De Benef. ii. 11. Non est dicendum, quid tribuerimus: qui admonet, repetit. Non est instandum, non est memoria revocanda ; nisi ut aliud dando, prioris admoneas. We ought never to disclose that which we have given: he that upbraids a courtesy, asks it back. We must not importune; we ought never to refresh the memory about a former kindness, except it be to second it by another. A BENEFIT. De Benef. ii. 11. Qui dedit beneficium taceat; narret, qui accepit. Let him that hath done the good office conceal it; let him that hath received it disclose it. THE NOBLE. De Benef. iii. 15. Generosi animi et magnifici est juvare, prodesse ; qui dat beneficia, Deos imitatur; qui repetit, feneratores. It is the property of a generous and noble mind to aid and do good to others: he who conferreth benefits, imitates the gods; he who demands them back is like the usurers. AN OLD MAN. Nihil turpius est quam grandis natu senex, qui nullum aliud habet argumentum, quo se probet diu vixisse, præter ætatem. There is nothing more disgraceful than that an old man should have nothing to produce as a proof that he has lived long except his years. Books. De Tranquil. 9. Onerat discentem turba librorum, non instruit: multoque satius est paucis te auctoribus tradere quam errare per multos. A large library is apt to distract rather than to instruct the learner; it is much better to confine yourself to a few authors than to wander at random over many. SIN. De Clement. i. 6. Etiamsi quis tam bene purgavit animum, ut nihil obturbare eum amplius possit ac fallere, ad innocentiam tamen peccando pervenit. Although a man hath so well purged his mind that nothing can trouble or deceive him any more, yet he reached his present innocence through sin. THE POWERFUL. De Clement. i. 8. Ut fulmina paucorum periculo cadunt, omnium metu; sic animadversiones magnarum potestatum terrent latius, quam nocent: non sine causâ. Non enim quantum fecerit, sed quantum facturus sit, cogitatur in eo, qui omnia potest. Even as lightning causes danger to few, but fear to all; so the punishments of mighty potentates are more full of fear than of evil, and not without reason. For in him that has power, all men consider, not what he does, but what he may do. SEVERITY. De Clement. i. 22. Severitas, quod maximum remedium habet, assiduitate amittit auctoritatem. Severity, if it be too frequently used, loses its authority, which is its chief use. TIME. Quædam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quædam subducuntur, quædam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est jactura, quæ per negligentiam venit: et si volueris attendere, magna vitæ pars elabitur male agentibus, maxima nihil agentibus, tota aliud agentibus. Some times are taken from us by force; some others are stolen from us; and others slip away. But the most disgraceful loss is that which arises from our own negligence; and if thou wilt seriously observe, thou shalt perceive that a great part of life flitteth from those who do evil, a greater from those who do nothing, and the whole from those who do not accomplish the business which they think that they are doing. LOVE. Si vis amari, ama. If you wish to be loved, love. THE MIND. Ep. 9. Omnia bona mea mecum sunt. My all I carry with me. HOW TO LIVE. Sic vive cum hominibus, tanquam Deus videat ; sic loquere cum Deo, tanquam homines audiant. Live with men as if God saw you; speak with God as if men heard you. WE CANNOT BE DEPRIVED OF PAST ENJOYMENT. Ep. 12. In somnum ituri, læti hilaresque dicamus : Vixi! et, quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi. Crastinum si adjecerit Deus, læti recipiamus. Ille beatissimus est, et securus sui possessor, qui crastinum sine solicitudine expectat. Quisquis dixit "Vixi" quotidie ad lucrum surgit. When we retire to rest, let us joyfully and contentedly say :"I have lived and finished the course which Fortune had given me." If God grant us to-morrow, let us receive it with thankfulness. Thrice happy is he, and thoroughly master of himself, who can look forward to to-morrow without anxiety. Whoever has said, "I have lived," rises daily to the acquisition of gain. FOLLY. Ep. 13. Inter cætera mala hoc quoque habet stultitia, semper incipit vivere. Among other ills, folly has this also, that it is always beginning to live. HOW TO LIVE Si ad naturam vives, nunquam eris pauper; si ad opinionem, nunquam eris dives. If you shall live according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to opinion, you will never be rich. MEN OF GENICS. Profunda supra nos altitudo temporis veniet; pauca ingenia caput inserent, et idem quandoque silentium obitura, oblivioni resistent, ac se diu vindicabunt. There will come after us a long course of ages; a few men of great genius will raise their heads, and though by and by about to sink into the same silent tomb, they will resist the forgetfulness of mankind, and keep themselves a long time in reputation. BEGINNING TO LIVE. Molestum est, semper vitam inchoare: male vivunt, qui semper vivere incipiunt. It is a tedious thing to be always beginning life: they live badly who always begin to live. SELF-RESPECT. Quum jam profeceris tantum, ut sit tibi etiam tui reverentia, licebit dimittas pædagogum. When thou hast profited so much that thou art ashamed of thyself, thou mayst let go thy tutor. ART. Ep. 29. Non est ars, quæ ad effectum casu venit. That is not art which succeeds by chance. AN OLD MAN. Ep. 36. Turpis et ridicula res est elementarius senex. Juveni parandum, seni utendum est. It is an absurd and base thing to see an old man at his A, B, C. We should lay up in our youth what we are to make use of in our old age. MANNERS. In mores fortuna jus non habet. PEDIGREE. Si quid est aliud in philosophiâ boni, hoc est, quod stemma non inspicit. vocentur, a Diis sunt. Omnes, si ad originem primam re If there is anything good in philosophy, it is this, that it does not regard nobility. All, if we look back to their first origin, are sprung from the gods. THE GENTLEMAN. Quis est generosus? ad virtutem bene a naturâ compositus. Non facit nobilem atrium plenum fumosis imaginibus. Nemo in nostram gloriam vixit: nec, quod ante nos fuit, nostrum est. Animus facit nobilem, cui ex quâcumque conditione fortunam licet surgere. supra Who is the gentleman? He that is well prepared by nature for virtue. It does not make a nobleman to have his court full of smoky images. No man lived for our glory, neither is that, which was before us, ours. The mind makes the nobleman, which enables us to rise from the basest condition above fortune. Books. Non refert quam multos libros, sed quam bonos habeas; lectio certa prodest, varia delectat. It is of no consequence how many books, but how good, thou hast; careful reading profiteth, while that which is full of variety delighteth. |