Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
XV
XV of 20. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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1. Horum te mori nemo coget, omnes docebunt; horum nemo annos tuos conterit, suos tibi contribuit; nullius ex his sermo periculosus erit, nullius amicitia capitalis, nullius sumptuosa obseruatio. Feres ex illis quicquid uoles; per illos non stabit quominus quantum plurimum cupieris haurias.
2. Quae illum felicitas, quam pulchra senectus manet, qui se in horum clientelam contulit! Habebit cum quibus de minimis maximisque rebus deliberet, quos de se cotidie consulat, a quibus audiat uerum sine contumelia, laudetur sine adulatione, ad quorum se similitudinem effingat.
3. Solemus dicere non fuisse in nostra potestate quos sortiremur parentes, forte nobis datos: bonis uero ad suum arbitrium nasci licet. Nobilissimorum ingeniorum familiae sunt: elige in quam adscisci uelis; non in nomen tantum adoptaberis, sed in ipsa bona, quae non erunt sordide nec maligne custodienda: maiora fient quo illa pluribus diuiseris.
4. Hi tibi dabunt ad aeternitatem iter et te in illum locum ex quo nemo deicitur subleuabunt. Haec una ratio est extendendae mortalitatis, immo in immortalitatem uertendae. Honores, monumenta, quicquid aut decretis ambitio iussit aut operibus exstruxit cito subruitur, nihil non longa demolitur uetustas et mouet; at iis quae consecrauit sapientia nocere non potest; nulla abolebit aetas, nulla deminuet; sequens ac deinde semper ulterior aliquid ad uenerationem conferet, quoniam quidem in uicino uersatur inuidia, simplicius longe posita miramur.
5. Sapientis ergo multum patet uita; non idem illum qui ceteros terminus cludit; solus generis humani legibus soluitur; omnia illi saecula ut deo seruiunt. Transiit tempus aliquod? hoc recordatione comprendit; instat? hoc utitur; uenturum est? hoc praecipit. Longam illi uitam facit omnium temporum in unum collatio.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin for fidelity, Senecan compression, modern clarity, and cadence.
1. No one forces you to die with these: a nobler service calls you to itself. Every age is yours for the taking; nothing lies outside your reach that any age of human life has brought forth; nothing of the ancient harvest is shut off to your search. All the generations that strove for the truth before us are made ready for our use; the noblest of us have gathered things in store for us, long life by long life. Ours is the mother-age: by her grace we are born into all manner of truths; and from the whole harvest of every age the best has been set apart for us, if only we knew how to use the depths of our minds.
2. All that is ours when we will: we can mark out no limit. Then run through the whole of it! All things have been given as food for minds. And since a great thing has been permitted you, and it is a great thing to have been born into this age, in which you are allowed to take whatever you wish from so great a richness of minds — do not carry out your life in sleep. For what is the part of a mind fitted for great things, if not to hunt out things as yet hidden from sense?
3. And you will mark it in this too — the life of the past lies open to us, and it is the greatest of goods to have mixed with all ages. He who has devoted himself wholly to wisdom is shut out from no age and admitted to all.
4. But this life, which the busy spend over eating their own time, they themselves labor at in such a way as to keep nothing for themselves. In their company, all the hours of the greatest men are open; from all they snatch what is worth the taking; they add to the number of their years.
5. Believe me, of those who have these temples of the greatest minds open, none can be wretched: their appetite is aroused; whatever they have gathered they make their own; they delight themselves most happily and — what I judge still happier — they leave nothing of their leisure to others.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. Nobody forces you to die with them. A nobler service is calling you. Every age is open to you; nothing any human life has produced is beyond your reach; nothing of the ancient harvest is locked away. All the generations who searched for truth before us are ready for our use: the best of humanity have stored things up for us, life after long life. Ours is the mother-age: by her grace we're born into every kind of truth, and from the whole harvest of all the centuries, the best has been set aside for us — if we only know how to dig into our own minds.
2. Everything is ours, whenever we want; you can set no limit. So run through it all! Everything has been laid out as food for the mind. And since something great has been given to you — and it is great to be born into this age, where you may take whatever you wish from such richness of minds — don't sleep through your life. What belongs to a mind built for great things, if not to hunt for what's still hidden from the eyes?
3. You'll notice it in this too: the life of the past lies open to us, and it is the greatest of gifts to keep company with every age. Whoever gives himself completely to wisdom is shut out of no century and welcomed into all.
4. But the busy spend their lives chewing on their own time, working so hard that they keep nothing for themselves. For their company, every hour of the greatest minds is open. From all of them they snatch whatever's worth taking. They add years to their own count.
5. Believe me: no one with those temples of the greatest minds open to them can be wretched. Their hunger is awake; whatever they gather becomes theirs; they enjoy it deeply — and what I'd call the happier part — they leave none of their leisure for anyone else.