Book 5, Chapter 14
Original Latin
qui enim poterit aut corporis firmitate aut fortunae stabilitate confidere? atqui nisi stabili et fixo et permanente bono beatus esse nemo potest. quid ergo eius modi istorum est? ut mihi Laconis illud dictum in hos cadere videatur, qui glorianti cuidam mercatori, quod multas navis in omnem oram maritimam demisisset, ‘non sane optabilis quidem ista’ inquit ‘rudentibus apta fortuna.’ an dubium est quin nihil sit habendum in eo genere, quo vita beata compleatur, si id possit amitti? nihil enim interarescere, nihil extingui, nihil cadere debet eorum, in quibus vita beata consistit. nam qui timebit ne quid ex is deperdat, beatus esse non poterit.
41 volumus enim eum, qui beatus sit, tutum esse, inexpugnabilem, saeptum atque munitum, non ut parvo metu praeditus sit, sed ut nullo. ut enim innocens is dicitur, non qui leviter nocet, sed qui nihil nocet, sic sine metu is habendus est, non qui parva metuit, sed qui omnino metu vacat. quae est enim alia fortitudo nisi animi adfectio cum in adeundo periculo et in labore ac dolore patiens, tum procul ab omni metu? atque haec certe non ita se haberent, nisi omne bonum in una honestate consisteret.
42 qui autem illam maxume optatam et expetitam securitatem— securitatem autem nunc appello vacuitatem aegritudinis, in qua vita beata posita est—habere quisquam potest, cui aut adsit aut adesse possit multitudo malorum? qui autem poterit esse celsus et erectus et ea, quae homini accidere possunt, omnia parva ducens, qualem sapientem esse volumus, nisi omnia sibi in se posita censebit? an Lacedaemonii Philippo minitante per litteras se omnia quae conarentur prohibiturum quaesiverunt, num se esset etiam mori prohibiturus: vir is, quem quaerimus, non multo facilius tali animo reperietur quam civitas universa? quid? ad hanc fortitudinem, de qua loquimur, temperantia adiuncta, quae sit moderatrix omnium commotionum, quid potest ad beate vivendum deesse ei, quem fortitudo ab aegritudine et a metu vindicet, temperantia cum a libidine avocet, tum insolenti alacritate gestire non sinat? haec efficere virtutem ostenderem, nisi superioribus diebus essent explicata.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted translation from the Latin. Latin transcription by the Perseus Project, Trustees of Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“For how can he trust either in the soundness of his body or in the stability of fortune? Yet no one can be happy without a good that is stable, fixed, and enduring. Which of those goods is like that? The Spartan’s saying seems to me to apply to these people: when a merchant boasted that he had sent many ships to every stretch of coast, the Spartan said, ‘A fortune fastened to ropes is hardly to be envied.’ Can there be any doubt that, if something can be lost, we must not count it among the things that make a happy life complete? Nothing on which a happy life rests must be capable of withering, dying out, or falling. For anyone who fears losing any part of these things cannot be happy.
41 “We want the happy person to be safe, impregnable, enclosed and fortified—not to feel little fear, but none. Just as we call someone innocent not because he does little harm, but because he does none, so we must count someone fearless not because he fears small things, but because he is entirely free from fear. For what else is courage but a disposition of mind that endures the encounter with danger, hardship, and pain, and is far removed from all fear? Yet this could certainly not be so unless every good consisted in moral goodness alone.
42 “And how can anyone possess that deeply desired and sought-after security—by security I now mean freedom from distress, in which a happy life consists—if a host of evils either besets him or can beset him? How can he be lofty and upright, counting everything that can befall a human being as small, as we want the wise person to be, unless he believes that everything he needs lies within himself? When Philip threatened in a letter to prevent everything the Spartans attempted, they asked whether he would also prevent them from dying. Will it not be far easier to find such a spirit in the individual we seek than in an entire city? Again, join to this courage we are discussing the self-control that governs every emotional movement: what can be lacking for happiness in someone whom courage frees from distress and fear, while self-control both draws him away from desire and prevents him from leaping with extravagant excitement? I would demonstrate that virtue produces these results, had they not been explained on the preceding days.”
Plain English translation
Complete independent machine-assisted translation directly from the Latin. Latin transcription by the Perseus Project, Trustees of Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0.
“What grounds for confidence are there in bodily strength, or in fortune’s steadiness? Happiness requires a good that stays firmly in place, secure and lasting. Do any of their goods meet that description? They remind me of a Spartan’s answer to a merchant. The merchant boasted of sending many ships out along every coast. ‘Not much to wish for,’ the Spartan replied, ‘a fortune hanging on ships’ ropes.’ Surely anything we might lose must be left out of the class of things that make happiness complete. What our happiness depends on must never dry up, burn out, or collapse. If we’re afraid that some part of it may be lost, we can’t be happy.
41 “We want a happy person to be safe, impossible to conquer, protected and defended. He shouldn’t have just a little fear; he should have none. We call someone harmless not because he does little harm but because he does none. In the same way, we should call someone fearless not because he has little fear but because he’s completely free of fear. What else is courage but a state of mind that patiently faces danger, hardship, and pain, while keeping far away from all fear? Things certainly couldn’t work that way unless all good lay in moral rightness alone.
42 “And how can anyone have that freedom from worry which we so much want and seek, if a crowd of bad things is either with him or able to reach him? By freedom from worry I now mean freedom from grief, which is what a happy life rests on. How can anyone stand tall, hold his head up, and consider everything that can happen to a human being unimportant, as we want a wise person to do, unless he thinks everything he needs lies within himself? Philip threatened the Spartans in a letter that he would stop everything they tried to do. They asked whether he would also stop them from dying. Won’t we find the person we’re looking for with that attitude much more easily than a whole city? And suppose we add self-control to the courage we’re discussing—self-control, which governs every emotional movement. What could someone lack for a happy life when courage frees him from grief and fear, while self-control draws him away from desire and doesn’t let him jump about in excessive excitement? I’d show that virtue brings these results, if we hadn’t already explained them on the previous days.”
About this section
Book 5, Chapter 14 is part of Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 162 of 189 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the Roman tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.