Chapter 2

4 Scipio: “Gaius Laelius here and I often marvel, Marcus Cato, at your outstanding and consummate wisdom in other matters, but most of all because I have never seen you find old age burdensome. Most old men detest it so much that they say they bear a load heavier than Mount Etna.”

Cato: “You seem to marvel, Scipio and Laelius, at something not particularly difficult. Those who have no resources within themselves for living well and happily find every age burdensome. But those who seek all their goods within themselves can regard nothing that nature’s necessity brings as an evil. Old age belongs above all to this class: everyone wishes to reach it, yet complains when it arrives. Such is the inconsistency and perversity of folly. They say it crept upon them sooner than they had thought. First, who compelled them to think falsely? Does old age steal upon youth any faster than youth upon childhood? And then, would old age weigh any less upon them in their eight-hundredth year than in their eightieth? However long a life has been, once it has flowed away, it can offer no consolation to a foolish old age.”

5 “So if you are accustomed to admire my wisdom—and I wish it deserved your opinion and my surname—my wisdom lies in this: I follow nature, our best guide, as I would a god, and obey her. Having planned the other parts of life well, she is unlikely to have neglected its final act like an incompetent poet. Yet something had to come last, something that, like berries on the trees and the fruits of the earth, would wither and fall when its proper ripeness came. A wise person must bear that gently. For what else is resisting nature but waging war upon the gods, as the Giants did?”

6 Laelius: “But Cato, you would do us a very great kindness—I can promise this for Scipio too—if, since we hope to grow old, and certainly wish to, we could learn from you long beforehand how best to bear the growing weight of years.”

Cato: “I certainly will, Laelius, especially if, as you say, it will please you both.”

Laelius: “Indeed we wish it, Cato, if it is no trouble. You have, so to speak, completed a long road that we too must travel, and we want to see what the place you have reached is like.”

4 Scipio: “Along with Gaius Laelius here, I often admire your outstanding and complete wisdom in everything, Marcus Cato. Most of all, I admire the fact that I have never noticed old age being a burden to you. Most old people find it so hateful that they say they carry a load heavier than Etna.”

Cato: “What surprises you, Scipio and Laelius, does not seem very difficult to me. For someone with no inner resources to live a good and happy life, every age is hard. But those who look within themselves for everything good cannot regard anything that nature inevitably brings as an evil. Old age is a leading example. Everyone hopes to reach it, yet complains about it once they have. That is how inconsistent and unreasonable foolishness is. They say it creeps up on them sooner than they expected. First, who forced them to expect something untrue? How does old age creep up on adulthood any faster than adulthood creeps up on childhood? And then, how would old age be less of a burden if they were in their eight-hundredth year instead of their eightieth? However long their past life had been, once it was gone it could offer no comfort to a foolish old age.”

5 “So if you regularly admire my wisdom—and I wish it deserved your opinion of it and the name I bear—I am wise in this respect: I follow nature, the best guide, and obey her as I would a god. Since she has arranged the other stages of life well, it is unlikely that she has neglected the last act like a careless playwright. Still, there had to be some final stage. Like the berries on trees and the crops of the earth, something had to ripen at the proper time and then, so to speak, shrivel and become ready to fall. A wise person must accept this calmly. What else is fighting against nature but fighting against the gods, as the Giants did?”

6 Laelius: “Cato, you would do us a great kindness—I can promise this for Scipio too—if we could learn from you well in advance how we can most easily bear the growing weight of age. After all, we hope to become old, and we certainly want to.”

Cato: “Certainly, Laelius. It is all the more worthwhile if both of you will enjoy it, as you say.”

Laelius: “We certainly want it, Cato, if it is no trouble. It is as though you have completed a long journey that we too must begin. We would like to know what it is like at your end of that road.”