Book VIMeditations · Liber VI

The matter of the universe is pliant and ready to obey, and the reason that governs it has no malice in it: it harms no one and is harmed by no one. Everything comes to be and is completed according to that reason.

UniversiŪniversīof the universe materiamāteriathe matter obsequensobsequēnscompliant estis etand parerepārēreto obey promptaprōmpta.readyThe matter of the universe is compliant and ready to obey.Universi materia Universi "of the universe" is the genitive of universum, the neuter of the adjective universus "whole", used as a noun: "the whole", the universe. materia is matter, the passive stuff of the world in Stoic physics; the next sentence sets beside it the mind that governs it. Neuter plurals and adjectives used as nouns (bona, mala, omnia)obsequens est et parere prompta Two predicates of materia. obsequens "compliant" is the present participle of the deponent obsequor "comply", used as an adjective. prompta "ready" takes an infinitive: parere prompta "ready to obey". This parere is from pāreō "obey" (long a, long e), not from pariō "give birth", whose infinitive is spelled the same. Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns mensmēnsthe mind rectrixrēctrīxthe ruler ejusdem,of the same (matter) nullamnūllamno inin sesēitself maleficiimaleficiīof wrongdoing caussamcause habet;has cumsince malitiammalice inin sesēitself nullamnūllamno habeat;it has nequeneither malefacitit does harm cuiquam,to anyone necnor aāby quoquamquōquamanyone laeditur.it is harmedThe mind that governs it has in itself no cause of doing harm, since it has no malice in itself; it neither does harm to anyone, nor is it harmed by anyone.mens rectrix ejusdem rectrix "ruler" is the feminine of rector, so it can stand in apposition to the feminine mens: "the mind, the ruler of it". ejusdem "of the same" refers back to materia: the mind rules that same matter. Demonstratives: hic, ille, iste, is, ipse, idemnullam in se maleficii caussam habet "Has in itself no cause of wrongdoing": nothing in it from which harm could come. maleficii "of wrongdoing" depends on caussam, Gataker's spelling of causam. nullam is put first, far from its noun, for emphasis; the same pattern comes back in malitiam in se nullam. Gataker's spelling: j, caeterum, quenquam, -cunquecum malitiam in se nullam habeat cum with the subjunctive here gives the reason: "since it has no malice in itself". Matter has no power of its own, and the mind that moves it has no wish to harm; so no evil comes from either. Clauses with cum: when, since, althoughneque malefacit cuiquam, nec a quoquam laeditur neque … nec "neither … nor". malefacit "does harm" takes the dative, cuiquam "to anyone"; the second half turns the same thought round into the passive, with a quoquam "by anyone" for the agent: the mind can neither harm nor be harmed. quisquam "anyone" is the indefinite used in negative sentences; cuiquam is its dative and quoquam its ablative. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sive secundumaccording to hancthis (mind) verovērōbut fiuntfīuntcome to be etand perficiunturare brought to completion universaūniversa.all thingsBut it is according to this mind that all things come to be and are brought to completion.secundum hanc secundum with the accusative means "according to, in line with" (it comes from sequor "follow"). hanc "this one" is feminine and in form could refer to materia as well, but the sense requires mens: all things come about and are completed as the ruling mind directs. Demonstratives: hic, ille, iste, is, ipse, idemfiunt et perficiuntur universa fiunt "come to be" is from fio, which serves as the passive of facio; perficiuntur "are brought to completion" is from perficio. Their subject universa "all things", the neuter plural of universus, comes last. Neuter plurals and adjectives used as nouns (bona, mala, omnia)

Cold or warm, drowsy or rested, slandered or praised, dying or busy with something else: it makes no difference, so long as you do your duty. Dying too is one of the tasks of life, and in it as in everything it is enough to do well what is at hand.

PariParīequal locolocōin place habeashabeās,you should hold (it) frigorefrīgorewith cold rigensrigēns,stiff anor calorecalōreby heat fotusfōtus,warmed quodwhat estis officiiofficiīof duty tuituī,your fecerisfēceris.you have doneCount it the same whether you have done what is your duty stiff with cold or warmed by heat.Pari loco habeas habeas is a jussive subjunctive, a gentler command than the imperative: "you should hold". pari loco habere "to hold in an equal place" is to count as all one. What you should count as the same follows as an indirect question. Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")frigore rigens, an calore fotus Two participles describe you as you do your duty: rigens "stiff" (from rigeo), with frigore "with cold", and fotus "warmed", the perfect passive participle of foveo, with calore "by heat". an "or" joins the two; the first half of a double question may leave out utrum "whether". Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nounsquod est officii tui, feceris esse with a genitive says what belongs to someone or something: quod est officii tui "what is of your duty", what your duty requires. feceris is a perfect subjunctive, the verb of the indirect question: "whether you have done your duty stiff with cold or warmed by heat". Only the doing counts; the conditions are indifferent. Genitive of characteristic: "it belongs to…, it is the mark of…" itemlikewise utrumwhether dormituriensdormītūriēns,drowsy anor somnisomnīof sleep satur;full malebadly audiensaudiēns,being spoken of anor collaudatuscollaudātus;highly praised moriensmoriēnsdying itidem,likewise anor aliudelse quidsomething agensagēns.doingLikewise whether drowsy or having had your fill of sleep; whether ill spoken of or highly praised; and likewise whether dying or doing something else.utrum dormituriens, an somni satur utrum … an "whether … or" frames a double question; each pair is a further case of the question just asked, with feceris understood. dormituriens "wanting to sleep" is from dormiturio, a verb of desire made from dormio "sleep". satur "full" takes a genitive: somni satur "full of sleep", well rested. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivemale audiens, an collaudatus male audire, literally "to hear badly", is an idiom: "to be ill spoken of", to have a bad name; bene audire is the opposite. collaudatus "highly praised" is the perfect passive participle of collaudo.moriens itidem, an aliud quid agens Even dying is one more condition in which to do one's duty, as the next sentence explains. moriens is the present participle of the deponent morior. In aliud quid "something else", quid is the indefinite "something", as after si or ne. Indefinite pronouns: aliquis, quis, quisquam, ullus, quisque, quicunque namfor ex(one) of vitaevītaeof life hujusthis officiisofficiīs,the duties hocthis estis etiam,also quodthat morimur.we dieFor this too is one of the duties of this life, that we die.ex vitae hujus officiis, hoc est etiam, quod morimur ex with officiis picks out one of a group: "this too is (one) of the duties of this life". hoc "this" points ahead to the quod clause, which gives its content: "that we die". Dying is not an interruption of our work but one of its tasks. Demonstratives: hic, ille, iste, is, ipse, idem etalso inin hochōcthis ergoergōso, then sufficit,it is enough quodwhat praebefore manibushands estis riterītēproperly disponeredispōnere.to set in orderSo in this too it is enough to set in good order what is at hand.sufficit, quod prae manibus est rite disponere sufficit "it is enough" has the infinitive disponere "to set in order" as its subject. The object of disponere is the clause quod prae manibus est "what is before (your) hands", the business at hand. et in hoc "in this too" means in dying as in everything else: there also it is enough to do well the thing in front of you. The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement)

Look into things, and let neither the proper quality nor the worth of anything escape you.

IntrospiceIntrōspice,look inside cavequecavēqueand take care nenēthat … not reireīof thing cujusquamof any qualitasquālitāsquality dignitasvedignitāsveor worth propriaproper, its own tetēyou fugiat.escapeLook within, and take care that the proper quality or worth of any thing does not escape you.Introspice introspice "look inside" is the imperative of introspicio (intro "within" + specio "look"). It means looking into things, beneath their surface, as the rest of the sentence shows, not looking into oneself. Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctivecaveque ne … te fugiat cave ne with the subjunctive is "take care that … not": a ne clause as the object of a verb of caution. fugere with a person as object means "to escape someone's notice": ne … te fugiat "that … does not escape you". Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)rei cujusquam qualitas dignitasve propria Two subjects joined by -ve "or": qualitas "quality", what kind of thing it is, and dignitas "worth", what it is worth. The verb fugiat is singular, as often with subjects joined by "or". cujusquam "of any" is used because the ne clause is negative in sense. Enclitics: -que, -ve, -ne

All that is present will very soon change: either it will pass off as vapour, if the substance of all things is one, or it will be scattered.

Praesentiapresent haecthese omniaall (things) quamas … as possible citissimecitissimēmost quickly mutabunturmūtābuntur;will change etand veleither ininto exhalationemexhālātiōnemvapour abibuntabībunt,they will pass off (siquidemsīquidemif indeed unitaūnītaunited sitis rerumrērumof things omniumall substantia)the substance velor dissipabunturdissipābuntur.they will be scatteredAll these present things will change as quickly as can be; and either they will pass off into vapour (if indeed the substance of all things is one), or they will be scattered.quam citissime mutabuntur quam with a superlative means "as … as possible": quam citissime "as quickly as possible". citissime is the superlative of the adverb cito "quickly" (cito, citius, citissime). The passive mutabuntur has a middle sense, "will change", not "will be changed by someone". Comparison: comparatives, superlatives, quamvel in exhalationem abibunt … vel dissipabuntur vel … vel "either … or" sets out two possible ends. If the world is one unified substance, as the Stoics held, things will pass back into the whole as vapour; if it is a mass of atoms, as the Epicureans held, they will be scattered. Either way they will not last. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivesiquidem unita sit rerum omnium substantia siquidem often means "since", but here it is "if indeed", and the subjunctive sit marks a supposition, not a fact the writer asserts. unita sit is a perfect passive subjunctive, "has been made one", that is, is one. Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)

The reason that governs the universe knows its own state, what it is doing, and the material it is working on.

NovitNōvitknows mensmēnsthe mind universiūniversīof the universe rectrixrēctrīx,the ruler quomodoquōmodohow sesēitself habeat,it is disposed quidwhat faciat,it is doing etand inon quaquāwhat materiamāteriāmatter verseturversētur.it is at workThe mind that rules the universe knows how it is disposed, what it is doing, and on what matter it is at work.Novit novit is a perfect with present meaning: nosco is "get to know", so novi "I have got to know" means "I know". Its subject, mens universi rectrix "the mind that rules the universe", as in section 1, follows the verb. Perfect stems and short forms (norim, posuere)quomodo se habeat, quid faciat, et in qua materia versetur Three indirect questions after novit, each with its verb in the subjunctive. se habere is "to be in a certain state": quomodo se habeat "how it is disposed". versari in is "to be busy with": "on what matter it works". The reason that governs the world knows itself, its work and its material; there is nothing blind in it. Indirect questions

The best way to avenge a wrong is not to become like the one who did it.

Optimusthe best injuriaminjūriama wrong ulciscendiulcīscendīof avenging modusway est,is inferentiīnferentīthe one who inflicts (it) nenēthat … not sissīsyou be similis.likeThe best way of avenging a wrong is not to be like the one who does it.Optimus optimus "best" is the superlative of bonus "good"; the comparative is melior "better". As in English good, better, best, the degrees come from different stems. Regular adjectives add -ior and -issimus: gravis, gravior, gravissimus. Comparison: comparatives, superlatives, quaminjuriam ulciscendi modus ulciscendi "of avenging" is the gerund of the deponent ulciscor, in the genitive with modus: "the way of avenging". A gerund is a verbal noun, but it can still take an object, here injuriam "a wrong". The gerund (agendo, laedendi)inferenti ne sis similis This ne clause states what the best way is: "that you be not like the one who inflicts it". inferenti "the one inflicting" is a present participle used as a noun, in the dative with similis "like"; with it supply injuriam: injuriam inferre "to do someone a wrong". To answer a wrong with a wrong is to become what you resent. Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)

Let your one delight and rest be this: to pass from one action that serves the community to another, with God in mind.

HocHōcwith this unoūnōone (thing) tetēyourself oblectaoblectā,delight inin eoqueeōqueand … it acquiesceacquiēsce,rest content ut(namely) that abfrom unaūnā,one quaewhich communitatemcommūnitātemthe community juvet,helps actioneāctiōne,action adto alteramanother transeastrānseās,you pass numinisnūminisof God memor.mindfulDelight yourself in this one thing, and rest in it: to pass from one action that helps the community to another, mindful of God.Hoc uno te oblecta, in eoque acquiesce Two imperatives: te oblecta "delight yourself", with the ablative hoc uno "with this one thing", and acquiesce "rest content", with in eo "in it". The -que "and" is attached to eo, the word after the little preposition in, not to in itself. Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctiveut ab una … actione, ad alteram transeas The ut clause tells what "this one thing" is: "that you pass from one action to another". alteram "another" agrees with actionem, understood from actione. Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)una, quae communitatem juvet, actione The relative clause sits between una and its noun actione: "from one action that helps the community". Its verb juvet is subjunctive because it describes the kind of action meant, and because it stands inside the ut clause. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui)numinis memor memor "mindful" takes the genitive: numinis memor "mindful of God". numen is the divine power; the Greek has simply "God". memor agrees with "you", the subject of transeas.

The ruling part of the soul rouses and turns itself, makes itself what it wishes to be, and makes whatever happens appear to it as it wishes.

Parsthe part animaeof the soul principalisprīncipālisruling sesēitself suscitat,rouses sesēitself vertit;turns sesēitself facit,makes qualemquālemsuch as ipsait itself voluerit;wishesThe ruling part of the soul rouses itself and turns itself; it makes itself such as it itself wishes;Pars animae principalis "The ruling part of the soul", Gataker's name for the Stoic hegemonikon, the reason in us that directs all the rest. In section 5 a mind rules the universe; here our own ruling part rules itself.se suscitat, se vertit; se facit se "itself" three times, each the object of its verb: the ruling part rouses itself, turns itself, makes itself. Nothing outside moves it; it is its own mover. The verbs stand side by side with no "and". Reflexive pronouns: se, sibi, sui, suusqualem ipsa voluerit se facit, qualem … "makes itself such as …": supply talem "such" with se, answered by qualem "as". voluerit is a future perfect, "shall have wished", which English gives as a present: "such as it itself wishes". ipsa "itself" stresses that the choice is its own. The future perfect ("if you will have done…") quaequeand (the things) which contingunthappen quaelibet,whatever they are taliatāliasuch sibito itself viderividērīto seem facit,it makes qualiaquāliaas ipsait itself voluerit.wishesand whatever things happen, of whatever kind, it makes them seem to itself such as it itself wishes.quaeque contingunt quaelibet quaeque here is quae "the things which" + -que "and", not a form of quisque "each". The antecedent ea "them" is left out; it is the object of facit. quaelibet "any you please" adds: "and whatever things happen, of whatever sort". Enclitics: -que, -ve, -netalia sibi videri facit, qualia ipsa voluerit facere with an infinitive is "to make (something) do": videri facit "makes (them) seem". talia … qualia "such … as" pair up: "it makes them seem to itself such as it wishes". The events do not change; the ruling part's judgement of them does. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sive

Each single thing is brought to completion according to the nature of the whole, not by some other nature around it, within it, or hanging apart from it.

Secundumaccording to universiūniversīof the universe naturamnātūramthe nature perficiunturare brought to completion singula.individual thingsEach single thing is brought to completion according to the nature of the universe.Secundum universi naturam perficiuntur singula secundum "according to", as in section 1. singula "single things, each thing", the neuter plural of singuli used as a noun, is the subject; it stands last, after its verb. Neuter plurals and adjectives used as nouns (bona, mala, omnia) nequenot enimfor secundumaccording to aliamother ullamūllam,any quae(one) which veleither exteriusfrom outside contineat,contains (them) velor interiuswithin contineaturcontineātur,is contained velor extraextrāoutside etiameven quasias it were appensaappēnsahung on sit.isFor it is not according to any other nature, whether one that contains things from outside, or one that is contained within them, or even one that hangs, as it were, outside.neque enim secundum aliam ullam Supply naturam perficiuntur: "for (they are) not (completed) according to any other (nature)". neque … ullam "not … any". Words left out: esse, sum and others understoodquae vel exterius contineat, vel interius contineatur, vel extra etiam quasi appensa sit Three imagined kinds of other nature, each verb in the subjunctive because the clause describes a kind of thing, not a real one: one that "contains (things) from outside", one that "is contained within (them)", or one that "hangs outside, as it were", apart from them. exterius and interius are comparative adverbs; appensa sit is a perfect passive subjunctive, "has been hung on". There is no second nature: the one nature of the whole does everything. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui)

The universe is either a chance jumble of things that tangle and scatter, or an ordered whole ruled by providence. If the first, there is nothing worth staying for and no use in being troubled, since dispersal will come whatever I do; if the second, I revere the ruler and stand firm, relying on him.

UniversumŪniversumthe universe auteither estis cinnusa mixture quidamquīdama kind of rerumrērum,of things nuncnow concursuconcursūby collision fortuitofortuītōchance invicemwith one another implexarumimplexārum,tangled moxsoon dissipatarumdissipātārumscattered denuodēnuō;againThe universe is either a kind of mixture of things, now tangled with one another by chance collision, soon scattered again;Universum aut est cinnus quidam rerum aut … aut "either … or": the first aut is here, the second opens the next sentence. This is the great either-or of the Meditations: the world is either a chance jumble of atoms, as Epicurus taught, or an ordered whole governed by providence, as the Stoics taught. cinnus is a mixed drink, Gataker's word for the Greek kykeon, a potion of barley, cheese and wine stirred together: a jumble. quidam "a kind of" softens the metaphor. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivenunc concursu fortuito invicem implexarum, mox dissipatarum denuo Two perfect passive participles agree with rerum: things "now entangled with one another by chance collision, soon scattered again". nunc … mox "now … soon" gives the endless round of joining and breaking up; concursu fortuito "by chance collision" is the Epicurean meeting of atoms. Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns autor estit is compagescompāgēsa structure rerumrērumof things ininto unumūnumone ordineōrdinein order justojūstōjust convenientium,coming together quaewhich providentiaprōvidentiāby providence regaturregātur.is governedor it is a structure of things coming together into one in just order, a structure governed by providence.compages rerum in unum ordine justo convenientium compages "a structure, framework" (from compingo "fasten together") answers cinnus: a building, not a jumble. convenientium "coming together" is a present participle agreeing with rerum; in unum "into one", ordine justo "in just order", an ablative of manner. Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nounsquae providentia regatur quae refers to compages. Its verb regatur is subjunctive because the clause describes the kind of structure meant: "such as is governed by providence". providentia is ablative, of means. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui) sisīif priusthe former illud,that quidwhat est,is (there) quodwhy desideremdēsīderemI should wish inin temerariatemerāriārandom miscelamiscelāmedley colluviequecolluviēqueand filth istiusmodiistīusmodīof that sort ulteriusany longer commoraricommorārī?to lingerIf it is the former, what reason is there for me to wish to linger any longer in such a random medley and filth?si prius illud Supply est or verum est: "if (it is) that former (alternative)", the jumble. prius "former" is the neuter of prior, agreeing with illud; ille "that" commonly points to the first of two things named. Words left out: esse, sum and others understoodquid est, quod desiderem quid est, quod with the subjunctive asks "what is there for which …?", that is, "what reason is there why …?", "why should I …?". desidero "desire" takes an infinitive, commorari "to linger", from the deponent commoror. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui)in temeraria miscela colluvieque istiusmodi ulterius Two nouns for the jumble: miscela "a medley" and colluvies "dregs, filth", joined by -que; temeraria "random" and istiusmodi "of that sort" frame them. ulterius "any longer" is the comparative of ultra. If the world has no order, there is nothing in it worth staying for. autor curcūrwhy aliudelse quicquamanything mihito me curaecūraeof concern sit,should be quamthan utthat quoquoquōquōin whatever modomodōway ininto terramearth redigar?I may be turned backOr why should anything else be of concern to me, other than that I be turned back into earth in one way or another?cur aliud quicquam mihi curae sit curae esse with a dative of the person is "to be a concern to someone": curae is a dative of purpose, "for a care", and mihi "to me". sit is a deliberative subjunctive in a question: "why should anything else concern me?". Potential and deliberative subjunctive in questionsquam ut quoquo modo in terram redigar quam "than" follows aliud "other": "anything other than that I may somehow be brought back to earth". quoquo modo "in whatever way, somehow": quoquo is the ablative of quisquis. redigar is the present passive subjunctive of redigo "bring back, reduce". Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…) quorsumquōrsumto what end, why etiameven perturbor?am I troubled quicquidwhatever enimfor egeroēgerō,I do supervenietwill come upon (me) aliquandoaliquandōsome day dissipatiodissipātiō.dispersalWhy am I even troubled? For whatever I do, dispersal will come upon me some day.quorsum etiam perturbor? quorsum "to what end, what for" (from quo vorsum "turned where?"). perturbor "am I troubled" is the present passive of perturbo; etiam "even" sharpens the question.quicquid enim egero, superveniet aliquando dissipatio egero is a future perfect, "whatever I shall have done", which English gives as a present: "whatever I do". dissipatio "scattering" picks up dissipatarum: the jumble that made me will unmake me whatever I do, so being troubled gains nothing. The future perfect ("if you will have done…") sinsīnbut if quodwhat posteriussecond estwas positum,put rectoremrēctōremthe ruler veneror,I revere eodemqueeōdemqueand on the same (ruler) fretusfrētus,relying firmusfirm animianimīin mind consistocōnsistō.I standBut if what was put second is true, I revere the ruler, and, relying on him, I stand firm in mind.sin quod posterius est positum sin "but if" answers the si of si prius illud. Supply verum est: "but if what was put second (is true)", that the world is an ordered structure. posterius "second, later" is a comparative adverb; est positum "was put" is a perfect passive. Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)eodemque fretus, firmus animi consisto fretus "relying on" takes the ablative: eodem "on the same", the ruler just named. animi after an adjective is a genitive of respect: firmus animi "firm in mind". Under providence, reverence and steadiness are the fitting answer.

When circumstances force you into disturbance, return quickly to yourself and do not stray further than you must from the steady tenor of your mind; by returning to it often you will grow better at keeping it.

SiquandoSīquandōwhenever aāby rebusrēbusthings circumstantibussurrounding (you) perby vimforce quandama kind of adactumadāctumforced perturbariperturbārīto be thrown into confusion tetēyourself senserissēnseris,you feel citocitōquickly adto tetēyourself rediredī,return necand … not plusplūsmore quamthan necessenecessary est,is abfrom animianimīof (your) mind tenoretenōretenor congruocongruōfitting recederecēde.departWhenever you feel yourself forced by the things around you, by a kind of violence, to be thrown into confusion, return quickly to yourself, and do not depart further than is necessary from the fitting tenor of your mind.Siquando … senseris siquando "if ever, whenever" takes the future perfect senseris "you shall have felt", which English gives as a present: "whenever you feel". The future perfect ("if you will have done…")a rebus circumstantibus per vim quandam adactum perturbari te After senseris comes te "yourself", described by the participle adactum "driven, forced", which takes the infinitive perturbari "to be thrown into confusion": "feel yourself forced to be disturbed". a rebus circumstantibus "by the things around you" gives the agent, per vim quandam "by a kind of force" the means. Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nounscito ad te redi redi is the imperative of redeo "go back". ad te redire "to come back to yourself" is to recover your own reason and composure. Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctivenec plus quam necesse est, ab animi tenore congruo recede nec with an imperative makes a prohibition, a later and poetic usage for classical neve recede or noli recedere: "and do not depart". In plus quam necesse est "more than is necessary", plus is used as an adverb. tenor is the steady, even course of the mind; the Greek has "rhythm". Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctive tenoristenōristhe tenor enimfor servandiservandīof keeping valentiormore able fiesfīēs,you will become adto eumit jugiterjūgitercontinually recurrendorecurrendō.by running backFor you will become more able to keep that tenor by continually running back to it.tenoris enim servandi valentior fies tenoris servandi "of the tenor to be kept", that is, "of keeping the tenor", is a gerundive phrase in the genitive. The genitive goes with valentior "more capable", as with potens "able": you will be better able to keep it. valentior is the comparative of valens "strong"; fies "you will become" is the future of fio. The gerundive with ad, in and the genitivead eum jugiter recurrendo recurrendo "by running back" is a gerund in the ablative, of means. eum "it" is the tenor; jugiter "continually". The more often you return, the less you will stray. The gerund (agendo, laedendi)

Anyone with a stepmother and a mother would pay respects to the one but keep going back to the other; so treat the court and philosophy. Go often to philosophy and rest in her: through her the court becomes bearable to you, and you to the court.

SiSīif novercama stepmother simulat the same time matremquemātremqueand a mother habereshabērēs,you had etiamsietiamsīeven though etalso illamthe former colerescolerēs,you would pay respects to adto istamthe latter tamenstill frequentissimefrequentissimēvery often tetēyourself reciperesreciperēs.you would betakeIf you had a stepmother and a mother at the same time, then even though you would pay your respects to the former too, you would still very often go back to the latter.Si novercam simul matremque haberes … reciperes A condition contrary to fact in the present: the imperfect subjunctive in both halves, haberes "if you had" and reciperes "you would betake (yourself)". The picture is set up to be applied in the next sentence. Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)etiamsi et illam coleres etiamsi "even if, although"; et "also". illam "that one" is the stepmother, the first named, and istam below is the mother. colere here is "to pay court to, honour": duty to the stepmother is not refused. Concessive clauses: etiamsi, quamvis, cumad istam tamen frequentissime te reciperes se recipere ad "to betake oneself to, go back to", as to a refuge. tamen "still" answers etiamsi. frequentissime "very often" is the superlative of frequenter; a superlative often means "very" rather than "most". harumhārumof these (two) instarīnstarthe likeness habeantlet (them) have apudwith, in the eyes of tetē,you aulathe court etand philosophia.philosophyLet the court and philosophy be like these two for you.harum instar habeant apud te, aula et philosophia instar habere with a genitive is "to have the likeness of, to be like" (as in Book IV): "let the court and philosophy be like these (two) to you". habeant is a jussive subjunctive; its subjects come at the end. In the same order, the court is the stepmother and philosophy the mother: as emperor, Marcus cannot leave the court, but he can keep going back to philosophy. Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…") adto hancthis one saepiusmore often accedeaccēde,go hachācin her acquiesceacquiēsce,rest cujuswhose ope,by the help cumboth quae(the things) which ibithere occurruntmeet (you) tibifor you futurafutūragoing to be suntare toleratutolerātūto bear facilia,easy tumand also ettoo ipseyou yourself inamong eiseīsthem toleratutolerātūto bear facilis.easyGo to philosophy more often, rest in her; by her help both the things you meet there will be easy for you to bear, and you yourself will be easy to bear among them.ad hanc saepius accede, hac acquiesce hanc and hac "this one" are philosophy: hic often points to the nearer, last-named of two, "the latter". saepius "more often" is the comparative of saepe. acquiesco "come to rest, find repose" takes an ablative, here without a preposition: hac acquiesce "rest in her", as in section 7 in eoque acquiesce. Demonstratives: hic, ille, iste, is, ipse, idemcujus ope, cum quae ibi occurrunt … tum et ipse cujus ope "by whose help", philosophy's. cum … tum "both … and also" joins two results: the things you meet there, at court, will be bearable, and so will you. The subject of the first half is the whole clause quae ibi occurrunt "what you meet there"; with the second half, supply futurus es "you will be". Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivefutura sunt toleratu facilia futura sunt "are going to be" joins the future participle of sum to sunt. toleratu is the supine in -u of tolero, used with adjectives such as facilis: toleratu facilia "easy to bear", literally "easy in the bearing". Future participle with sum (moriturus sis, victurus esses)

Think of fine dishes as dead fish, bird or pig, of Falernian wine as grape juice, of purple as sheep's hair dyed in shellfish blood, of sex as friction and discharge: such thoughts go to the heart of things. Do the same with whatever seems most admirable, and strip away the pomp; for pride is a great deceiver, most of all when we think we are busy with serious things.

Quemadmodumjust as dedēabout obsoniisobsōniīsmeat dishes atqueand eduliisedūliīsfoods ejusmodiejusmodīof that kind cogitarecōgitāreto think licet,one may hocthis piscisof a fish esseis cadavercadāver,the corpse hocthis avis,of a bird hocthis suis:of a pigJust as about meat dishes and other such foods one may think: this is the corpse of a fish, this of a bird, this of a pig;Quemadmodum quemadmodum "just as" opens a comparison that runs through the next sentences. Its other half comes only after all the examples, at ad eundem modum "in the same way": as we may think of food, wine, purple and sex, so we must deal with everything in life. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivede obsoniis atque eduliis ejusmodi cogitare licet obsonium is a cooked dish, mostly meat or fish, eaten with bread: here the roast meats and fine dishes on the table. licet "it is allowed" is impersonal, with the infinitive cogitare "to think" as its subject: "one may think about …". Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur)hoc piscis esse cadaver, hoc avis, hoc suis What one thinks follows as an accusative and infinitive: hoc … esse cadaver "that this is a corpse". With avis and suis supply esse cadaver. All three are genitives: piscis "of a fish" and avis "of a bird" look like nominatives, and suis "of a pig" is from sus, not a form of suus "his own". Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement) acand rursusrūrsus,again dedēof, about falernofalernō,Falernian wine esse(that it) is uvulaeūvulaeof a little grape succum;the juice dedēof purpurapurpurā,purple esse(that it) is oviculaeof a little sheep capilloscapillōsthe hairs conchyliiconchȳliīof a shellfish cruorecruōrewith the blood tinctostīnctōs;dyedand again, of Falernian wine, that it is the juice of a little grape; of purple, that it is the hair of a little sheep dyed with the blood of a shellfish;de falerno, esse uvulae succum The definitions go on as accusative and infinitive with the subject left out (id "it" is understood), still depending on cogitare licet: "of Falernian wine, (that it) is the juice of a little grape". Falernian, from northern Campania, was the most prized wine of Italy. The diminutives uvula "little grape" and ovicula "little sheep" shrink the precious things to something small and plain. Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement)de purpura, esse oviculae capillos conchylii cruore tinctos purpura is the purple robe of emperors and magistrates. Its dye came from a shellfish, the murex, called conchylium: cruore "with the blood" is an ablative of means with tinctos "dyed", the perfect passive participle of tingo, which agrees with capillos "hairs". The emperor's robe is wool soaked in shellfish juice. Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns dedēof coitucoitū,sexual intercourse esse(that it) is intestiniintestīnīof a piece of gut frictionemfrictiōnem,the rubbing muciquemūcīqueand of mucus cumwith convulsioneconvulsiōnespasm quadamquādama kind of excretionemexcrētiōnem:the dischargeof sexual intercourse, that it is the rubbing of a piece of gut, and the discharge of mucus with a kind of spasm:esse intestini frictionem, mucique cum convulsione quadam excretionem The third definition, in two parts joined by -que: "the rubbing of a piece of gut, and the discharge of mucus with a kind of spasm". The nouns in -io name actions, frictio "rubbing" (from frico) and excretio "discharge" (from excerno); the genitives intestini and muci say what is rubbed and what is discharged. muci … excretionem wraps round the phrase cum convulsione quadam. Objective genitive (reverentia tui, cura rerum) cogitationescōgitātiōnēsthoughts enimfor istaethese itaso resrēsthe things ipsasipsāsthemselves attingunt,reach easdemqueeāsdemqueand them pervaduntpervādunt,go right through utthat quaenamwhat (exactly) eaethey sint,are penitiusmore deeply perthrough hocthis cernereto see deturdētur.it is grantedFor these thoughts reach the things themselves and go right through them, so that through this one is given to see more deeply what they really are.ita res ipsas attingunt, easdemque pervadunt, ut ita … ut "so … that" brings a result clause with the subjunctive. Such thoughts "reach the things themselves and go right through them": they touch the thing as it is, not the show around it. easdem "the same" simply means "them". Result clauses (ut after ita, tam, sic)quaenam eae sint, penitius per hoc cernere detur detur "it is granted" is impersonal, with the infinitive cernere "to see" as its subject: "one is given to see". What one sees is an indirect question, quaenam eae sint "what they really are", placed first. penitius "more deeply" is the comparative of penitus. Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur) adin eundemthe same modumway perthroughout vitamvītamlife totamtōtamwhole agendum(it) must be done est,is utso that resrēsthe things easeāsthose etiam,even quaewhich comprobatucomprobātūto approve dignissimaemost worthy videbunturvidēbuntur,will seem prorsusprōrsuscompletely denudemusdēnūdēmus,we strip bare vilitatemquevīlitātemqueand the cheapness earumeārumtheir intueamurintueāmur,we look at etand tollamustollāmuswe take away eam,that quaquāby which evehiēvehīto be exalted solent,they are usually narrationisnārrātiōnisof description pompampomp omnem.allIn the same way we must act throughout our whole life, so that we strip completely bare even those things that will seem most worthy of approval, look at their cheapness, and take away all that pomp of description by which they are usually exalted.ad eundem modum per vitam totam agendum est, ut agendum est is an impersonal gerundive, "it must be acted", that is, "we must act". ad eundem modum "in the same way" answers the Quemadmodum "just as" that opened the section: as with the food, the wine and the purple, so with everything. The ut clause spells out this way of acting, with three verbs in the subjunctive: denudemus, intueamur, tollamus. Gerundive of obligation (cavenda est, agenda sunt)res eas etiam, quae comprobatu dignissimae videbuntur res eas etiam "even those things": eas points to the relative clause that follows. comprobatu is a supine in -u with dignus: "most worthy to be approved". dignissimae is the superlative of dignus. videbuntur "will seem": the future looks ahead to the things we shall meet.tollamus eam, qua evehi solent, narrationis pompam omnem eam … pompam omnem "all that pomp" wraps round the relative clause qua evehi solent "by which they are usually exalted". narratio is the telling: the fine things said about a thing, which make it seem grander than it is. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod gravisgrievous enimfor impostora deceiver fastuspride est;is etand tumthen maximemāximēmost effascinat,it bewitches cumwhen circacircāabout eathose things quisone versaturversātur,is busy quaewhich studiostudiōof zeal dignaworthy videntur.seemFor pride is a grievous deceiver; and it bewitches most at the very time when one is busy with things that seem worthy of serious effort.gravis enim impostor fastus est The subject fastus "pride" comes last; gravis impostor "a grievous deceiver" is the predicate. Pride deceives us by making things seem great, and ourselves great for caring about them.tum maxime effascinat, cum circa ea quis versatur, quae studio digna videntur tum … cum "then … when": "it bewitches most at the very time when …". cum with the indicative here simply marks the time. quis is the indefinite "one, anyone"; versari circa "to be busy about". dignus "worthy" takes the ablative: studio digna "worthy of zeal", things that seem serious and important. That is just when pride is most dangerous. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sive VideVidēsee igitur,then dedēabout XenocrateXenocrates ipsoipsōhimself CratesCratēsCrates quidwhat dixeritdīxerit.he saidSee, then, what Crates said about Xenocrates himself.de Xenocrate ipso Crates quid dixerit An indirect question after vide: quid dixerit "what he said", with the perfect subjunctive. The subject Crates and de Xenocrate ipso "about Xenocrates himself" stand before the question word. Xenocrates, Plato's pupil, was famous for his grave and solemn manner; the Cynic Crates seems to have mocked even him for pride. The saying itself is lost. Indirect questions

Most people admire the lowest kinds of thing, held together by mere form or by the nature of a plant; the somewhat better admire living creatures, flocks and herds; the more refined admire things with a rational soul, but only for skill or as slaves to own. The man who reveres the universal, civic rational soul cares for nothing else: he keeps his own soul acting by reason and for the common good, and helps his kin to do the same.

EorumEōrumof the things quaewhich vulgusthe mass hominumof men admiraturadmīrātur,admires pleraqueplēraquemost of them adto generalissimagenerālissimathe most general rerumrērumof things capitaclasses, heads referuntur,are referred quaewhich veleither formafōrmāby form meramerāmere, bare velor naturanātūrāby nature continentur;are held together qualiaquāliasuch as suntare lapideslapidēs,stones ligna,timber ficusfīcūs,fig trees vitesvītēs,vines oleae:olive treesOf the things which the mass of men admire, most are referred to the most general classes of things, those held together either by mere form or by nature: such as stones, timber, fig trees, vines, olives;Eorum quae vulgus hominum admiratur, pleraque The sentence opens with a relative clause naming a group: Eorum quae vulgus hominum admiratur "of the things which the mass of men admire". Eorum is a partitive genitive depending on pleraque "most": "most of the things …". vulgus "the crowd" is a neuter singular noun, so its verb admiratur is singular; admiror is deponent, active in meaning. Partitive genitive (aliquid boni, nihil…)ad generalissima rerum capita referuntur referre ad "to refer to" is to file something under a heading; in the passive, "are referred to, come under". caput "head" here means "heading, class", and generalissima is the superlative of generalis "general": "the most general classes of things", the lowest and simplest kinds of being.quae vel forma mera vel natura continentur This is the bottom of a ladder of being that the section climbs step by step. forma mera "by bare form" renders the Greek hexis, the mere cohesion that holds a stone or a log together; natura renders physis, the growing nature of a plant. Both are ablatives of means with continentur "are held together". So stones and timber are the first kind, figs, vines and olives the second. Ablative of means, cause and mannerqualia sunt lapides, ligna, ficus, vites, oleae qualia "of which sort" is neuter plural, like the things described: "such as are stones, timber …". ficus is the 4th-declension nominative plural (ficūs); beside vines and olives it means "fig trees". quaethe things which autemand moderatioresmoderātiōrēsthe more sensible paulopaulōa little suspiciunt,look up to adto eathose things referuntur,are referred quaewhich animaanimāwith a soul suntare praedita,endowed velutivelutīsuch as gregesgregēsflocks etand armenta.herdsAnd the things which people a little more sensible look up to are referred to those which are endowed with a soul, such as flocks and herds.quae autem moderatiores paulo suspiciunt, ad ea referuntur Again the relative clause comes first and its antecedent, ea "those things", waits in the next clause. The whole clause quae … suspiciunt "the things which … look up to" is the subject of referuntur; inside it, quae is the object and moderatiores the subject. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quodmoderatiores paulo moderatiores is the comparative of moderatus "moderate, sensible", used as a noun: "the more sensible". paulo "by a little" measures the difference: "people a little more sensible" than the crowd. Comparison: comparatives, superlatives, quamsuspiciunt suspicio, suspicere "look up at, look up to" is a different verb from the deponent suspicor "suspect" and from the noun suspicio "suspicion".quae anima sunt praedita praeditus "endowed with" takes the ablative: anima "with a soul". anima here is the life of an animal, a step above the growing nature of plants: so flocks and herds. quaethe things which verovērōand politiorespolītiōrēsthe more refined adhucadhūcstill afficiunt,move, impress adto eathose things pertinent,belong quaewhich animaanimāby a soul continenturare held together rationaliratiōnālī,rational nonnōnnot quidemindeed universaliūniversālīuniversal illaillā,that sedbut quaquāin so far as artiumof the arts cultrixcultrīx,a cultivator aliasvealiāsveor otherwise solersclever existit,it is, proves autor quaquāin so far as meremerēmerely talistālis,such utas servitiorumservitiōrumof slaves turbama crowd possiderepossidēre.owningAnd the things which move people more refined still belong to those which are held together by a rational soul: not indeed by that universal soul, but by a soul in so far as it is a cultivator of the arts, or clever in some other way, or merely as such, as in owning a crowd of slaves.quae vero politiores adhuc afficiunt The pattern changes: this time quae is the subject and politiores "the more refined" (comparative of politus "polished") is the object: "the things which move the more refined". adhuc "still" heightens the comparative: "more refined still". afficere "to affect" here means "to move, impress".quae anima continentur rationali The third step of the ladder: things held together by a rational soul, that is, human beings. anima … rationali is an ablative of means with continentur; the adjective is held back until after the verb. Ablative of means, cause and mannernon quidem universali illa, sed qua artium cultrix, aliasve solers existit non quidem … sed "not indeed …, but". universali illa "that universal one" is the rational soul shared by all, the subject of the next sentence; these people value a rational soul only for what it can do. qua "in so far as" (literally "by which way") limits it: the soul as a cultivator of the arts (cultrix, feminine to match anima) or as clever in some other way (solers, Gataker's spelling of sollers). existit (Gataker's spelling of exsistit) "it is, shows itself".qua mere talis, ut servitiorum turbam possidere The last kind of admirer values a rational soul merely as such, mere talis, and ut "as" brings in the example: owning a crowd of slaves, who are rational beings. possidere is an infinitive used as a noun, "owning". Gataker (so his 1652 edition prints) keeps close to a Greek infinitive here; classical Latin would not put an infinitive after ut, but would write ut … possideat. servitium "slavery" can mean "slaves" taken together. The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement) caeterumbut quiquīhe who animamthe soul rationalemratiōnālemrational universalemūniversālemuniversal acand civilemcīvīlemcivic veneraturvenerātur,reveres ishe reliquisreliquīsother rebusrēbusthings omnibusall insuperīnsuperabove, aside habitishabitīs,held (aside) into hocthis praecipuepraecipuēabove all incumbit,applies himself utthat animamsoul inin eoeōthat statustatūstate suamhis own conservetcōnservet,he may keep quoquōin which rationiratiōnīwith reason acand communionicommūniōnīwith fellowship consentaneecōnsentāneēin agreement sesēitself habeatit may hold geratque,and may conductBut he who reveres the rational soul, universal and civic, sets all other things aside and applies himself above all to this: to keep his own soul in that state in which it holds and conducts itself in agreement with reason and fellowship;qui animam rationalem universalem ac civilem veneratur, is qui … is "he who …, he": the relative clause comes first and is picks it up as the subject of incumbit. This is the top of the ladder: the rational soul valued not for its skills but as universalis "universal", shared by all rational beings, and civilis "civic", made for life in a community. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quodreliquis rebus omnibus insuper habitis An ablative absolute: "all other things having been set aside". insuper habere, literally "to hold above", is an idiom for "to disregard, pay no attention to". Ablative absolutein hoc praecipue incumbit, ut animam … conservet incumbere in "to lean on" is "to apply oneself to". hoc "this" points ahead to the ut clause, which says what the effort is: "that he keep his soul …". suam "his own" is separated from animam by in eo statu. Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)in eo statu … quo … se habeat geratque in eo statu … quo "in that state in which", quo standing for in quo. se habere "to hold oneself" means "to be (in some condition)", and se gerere "to bear oneself" means "to behave". The verbs are subjunctive because they belong to the ut clause and describe the state aimed at. consentanee "agreeably" takes the dative, like consentaneus: rationi ac communioni "with reason and fellowship". Subjunctive in clauses inside reported speech or thought etand congenericongenerīkinsman suosuōhis cuilibet,any utso that hocthis ipsumvery praestet,he may achieve operamhelp, effort itidemlikewise mutuaturmūtuāturlends suam.his ownand likewise he lends his own help to any kinsman of his, so that he too may achieve this very thing.congeneri suo cuilibet, ut hoc ipsum praestet congener "of the same kind" is used as a noun, "kinsman": any fellow rational being. The dative names the one helped. ut … praestet is a purpose clause, "so that he may achieve this very thing", that is, keep his soul in the same right state. praestare here means "to make good, accomplish". Purpose clauses (ut, ne, quo)operam itidem mutuatur suam operam "effort, help" is the object, and suam at the end belongs to it. mutuor is deponent and in classical Latin means "borrow"; Gataker (so his 1652 edition prints) uses it for giving help in return, like late Latin mutuo "lend", as members of one community do for each other: "he likewise lends his own help". The Greek says simply that he works together with his kin. Deponent verbs: passive forms, active meaning

Some things hurry into being, others out of it, and part of what is coming to be is already gone: change renews the world as time renews eternity. In such a river, to prize anything that slips past is like falling in love with a bird that is out of sight at once; and life itself is a breath drawn in and given back, so that death is only returning the whole power of breathing to where it came from.

Quaedamsome things fierifierīto come into being properant,hasten quaedamothers fuisse:to have been etand illiusillīusof that etiameven, too quodwhich fit,is coming to be aliquidsomething, some part jamalready abscessit.has gone awaySome things hasten to come into being, others to have been; and of that too which is coming into being, some part has already gone.Quaedam fieri properant, quaedam fuisse propero "hasten" takes an infinitive, and is understood again in the second half. Some things hasten fieri "to come into being", others fuisse "to have been": the perfect infinitive pictures them hurrying to be over and done with.illius etiam quod fit, aliquid jam abscessit illius … aliquid "something of that" is a partitive genitive; illius is also the antecedent of quod fit "which is coming to be". Even what is still in the making has partly gone already. Partitive genitive (aliquid boni, nihil…) fluxusfluxūsflows etand mutationesmūtātiōnēschanges mundumthe world perpetimcontinually renovant,renew sicutsīcutjust as temporisof time successiosuccessiōsuccession nunquamnever intermissainterrupted aevumeternity interminatuminterminātumboundless exhibetpresents novumnew subinde.again and againFlows and changes are continually renewing the world, just as the never-interrupted succession of time keeps presenting boundless eternity ever new.fluxus et mutationes fluxus here is the 4th-declension noun "flowing, flux", nominative plural (fluxūs), not the adjective fluxus "fleeting". With mutationes "changes" it is the subject of renovant.sicut temporis successio nunquam intermissa aevum interminatum exhibet novum subinde A comparison: as change keeps the world new, so time, following on without a break (nunquam intermissa "never interrupted", a perfect participle agreeing with successio), keeps showing endless eternity (aevum interminatum) as new. novum is a predicate adjective, "shows it (as) new", and subinde "again and again" goes with it. inin hochōcthis igiturthen flumineflūmine,river inin quoquōwhich consisterecōnsistereto stand still nonnōnnot datur,it is granted quorsumquōrsumto what end, why quisanyone horumhōrumof these things sicsīcthus, like this praeterlabentiumpraeterlābentiumgliding past quicquamanything inin pretiopretiōvalue habeat?should holdIn this river, then, in which it is not granted to stand still, why should anyone hold in value any of these things gliding past like this?in hoc igitur flumine, in quo consistere non datur flumine "river" turns the flow of the last sentence into a picture. datur "it is given" is used impersonally with an infinitive as its subject: consistere non datur "to stand still is not granted". Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur)quorsum quis … quicquam in pretio habeat A question in the subjunctive asks what one could or should do, and here expects no answer: quorsum quis … habeat? "to what end should anyone hold …?", meaning "no one has any reason to". quis after the question-word is the indefinite "anyone", and quicquam "anything" is the indefinite used in questions and negative sentences. in pretio habere "to hold in value" is "to value, prize". Potential and deliberative subjunctive in questionshorum sic praeterlabentium praeterlabentium "gliding past" is the present participle of the deponent praeterlabor, agreeing with horum "these things"; the genitive is partitive with quicquam: "anything of these things that slip past so". Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns perindejust acas sisīif avicularumaviculārumof the little birds praetervolantiumflying past aliquamone diligeredīligereto love quissomeone inciperet,were to begin cumwhen eait eēout of conspectucōnspectūsight statimat once abscesserit.it has goneIt is just as if someone were to begin to love one of the little birds flying past, when it has at once gone out of sight.perinde ac si … quis inciperet perinde ac si "just as if" brings in an imagined comparison, so the verb is subjunctive: inciperet "(someone) were to begin". quis after si is "anyone, someone". Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)avicularum praetervolantium aliquam avicula is a diminutive of avis "bird", "little bird". aliquam "one" is feminine to agree with the birds, and takes the partitive genitive avicularum praetervolantium "of the little birds flying past".cum ea e conspectu statim abscesserit cum with the subjunctive gives the circumstance that makes such love absurd: "when it has at once gone out of sight". The perfect abscesserit says the bird is gone almost before it is seen. Clauses with cum: when, since, although hujusmodihujusmodīof this kind resrēsa thing estis etalso vitavītathe life cujusque,of each man quasias it were exhalatioexhālātiōan exhalation nempeto be sure quaedama kind of aāfrom sanguinethe blood orta,arising etand abfrom aereāerethe air spiritusspīritūsof breath attractioattractiō.a drawing inOf this kind too is each man's life: as it were an exhalation, to be sure, arising from the blood, and a drawing in of breath from the air.hujusmodi res est et vita cujusque hujusmodi "of this kind" is the genitive of hic modus and never changes. et here means "also": a man's life too is something that slips past. vita is the subject, res the predicate.quasi exhalatio nempe quaedam a sanguine orta, et ab aere spiritus attractio Two nouns in apposition to vita: an exhalation arising from the blood (the Stoics held that the soul is a vapour given off by the blood) and a drawing in of breath from the air. quasi "as it were", nempe "to be sure" and quaedam "a sort of" all soften the comparison. orta is the perfect participle of the deponent orior "arise". spiritus is genitive (4th declension, spiritūs): the breath is what is drawn in. Objective genitive (reverentia tui, cura rerum) qualequāleof what sort enimfor quiddamsomething estis aeremāeremair semelonce traxissetrāxisse,to have drawn in moxthen, soon reddere,to give back quodwhich momentismōmentīsmoments singulissingulīsevery facimus;we do taletālesuch quiddamsomething estis etalso totamtōtamwhole illamthat respirandirespīrandīof breathing facultatemfacultātem,faculty quamwhich heriherīyesterday etand nudiustertiusthe day before inat ortuortūbirth acceperasaccēperās,you had received eoeōto the place redonareredōnāre,to give back undefrom which primoprīmōfirst hauserashauserās.you had drawn itFor what it is to have drawn in air once and then to give it back, which we do every moment, that same thing it is also to give back that whole faculty of breathing, which you received yesterday and the day before at your birth, to the place from which you first drew it.quale enim quiddam est … tale quiddam est quale … tale "of what sort … of that sort" compares two acts done with breath: "what kind of thing it is to …, that kind of thing it is to …". Each est has infinitives as its subject: first traxisse … reddere, then redonare. Both adjectives are neuter, agreeing with quiddam "something". Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…siveaerem semel traxisse, mox reddere, quod momentis singulis facimus The perfect infinitive traxisse "to have drawn in" and the present reddere "to give back" stand as nouns: taking a breath and letting it go. quod "which" sums up the whole act. momentis singulis "at every single moment" is an ablative of time. The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement)totam illam respirandi facultatem … eo redonare, unde primo hauseras respirandi is a gerund in the genitive: "the faculty of breathing". eo … unde "to the place … from which": dying is giving back the whole power of breathing to where it came from. The pluperfects acceperas "you had received" and hauseras "you had drawn" look back from that moment of giving back. The gerund (agendo, laedendi)heri et nudiustertius "Yesterday and the day before" means "only very lately": the gift of life is recent and short. nudiustertius is made from nunc dies tertius "it is now the third day".

Breathing, perceiving, being driven by impulse, herding together and feeding we share with plants and beasts, and applause is only a clatter of tongues. What is worth valuing is to move and to hold still as our own constitution directs, the end every art aims at; hold to that and you need nothing else, whereas prizing other things brings envy, suspicion, plotting, torment and complaints against the Gods, while honouring your own mind makes you content with yourself, fit for fellowship and in harmony with the Gods.

NonNōnnot estis aestimationeaestimātiōneof esteem multamultāmuch dignum,worthy auteither perspirariperspīrārī,to transpire quodwhich etalso plantarumplantārumof plants est;is autor respirarerespīrāre,to breathe quodwhich etalso pecudumof cattle etand belluarumbelluārumof wild beasts est;is autor aāby sensibussēnsibusthe senses rerumrērumof things imaginesimāginēsimages impressasimpressāsstamped admittere;to take inIt is not worthy of much esteem either to transpire, which belongs to plants too; or to breathe, which belongs to cattle and wild beasts too; or to take in images of things stamped on us by the senses;Non est aestimatione multa dignum, aut perspirari The subject of Non est … dignum is a string of infinitives used as nouns, running on into the next sentence: perspirari, respirare, admittere, impelli, convenire, nutriri. An infinitive counts as a neuter noun, so the predicate dignum "worthy" is neuter. dignus takes the ablative: aestimatione multa "of much esteem". After non, aut … aut is "either … or", in English "neither … nor". The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement)quod et plantarum est esse with a genitive says whose property or mark a thing is: quod … plantarum est "which is (a thing) of plants", "which belongs to plants". et is "also": plants do it too, so it is nothing to be proud of. perspirari, passive, is "to be breathed through", the breathing through the pores that plants were thought to have. The same pattern follows: quod et pecudum et belluarum est "which belongs to cattle and wild beasts too". Genitive of characteristic: "it belongs to…, it is the mark of…"a sensibus rerum imagines impressas admittere Perception was pictured as the stamping of images on the mind, like a seal in wax: imagines impressas "images stamped (on us)", with a sensibus "by the senses" as the agent of the participle. Animals have this too. Agent with the passive: a, ab with the ablative autor abby affectibusthe passions sigillariumsigillāriumof puppets instarīnstarlike impelliimpellī;to be driven autor gregatimgregātimin herds convenireconvenīre;to come together autor nutririnūtrīrī:to be fed hocthis enimfor perindejust the same estis atqueas alimentialimentīof the food quodwhat estis superfluumsurplus excernere.to excreteor to be jerked about by the passions like puppets; or to flock together; or to be fed: for this is just the same as excreting what is surplus of the food.sigillarium instar instar "likeness" with a genitive means "like": sigillarium instar "like puppets". sigillaria were little figures, sold at Rome as presents at the feast of the Sigillaria; Gataker uses the word for puppets worked by strings. sigillarium is the genitive plural of the plural noun sigillaria, -ium.ab affectibus … impelli impelli "to be driven" is a passive infinitive, and ab affectibus "by the passions" names the driver, as with a person: a creature pulled this way and that by impulse, like a puppet on its strings. Agent with the passive: a, ab with the ablativehoc enim perinde est atque alimenti quod est superfluum excernere perinde … atque "just the same as". hoc "this" is being fed: taking in food is no nobler than getting rid of what is left over. The object of excernere "to excrete" is the clause alimenti quod est superfluum "what of the food is surplus"; its antecedent (id) is left out, and alimenti is a partitive genitive with quod. Partitive genitive (aliquid boni, nihil…) ecquidanything? estis there igitur,then quodthat pretiopretiōof value aliquoaliquōany dignumworthy sit?is numsurely not? plausibuswith applause excipiexcipī?to be received nequaquamnēquāquam.by no meansWhat is there, then, that is worthy of any value? To be received with applause? By no means.ecquid … num … nequaquam A short dialogue with himself, question, suggestion, answer. ecquid est … ? "is there anything …?" opens the search. num asks a question expecting the answer "no": num plausibus excipi? "surely not to be received with applause?" (est dignum is understood, and excipi is one more infinitive used as a noun). nequaquam "by no means" gives the answer.quod pretio aliquo dignum sit The relative clause has the subjunctive because it describes the kind of thing sought: "anything of a sort to be worthy of some value". dignus takes the ablative, pretio aliquo. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui) itaquetherefore necnot … either linguarumlinguārumof tongues strepitustrepitūwith a clatter excipiexcipī.to be received quidwhat enimfor suntare aliudelse vulgivulgīof the crowd acclamationesacclāmātiōnēs,the acclamations quamthan, but linguarumlinguārumof tongues strepitus?a clatterTherefore not to be received with a clatter of tongues either. For what else are the acclamations of the crowd but a clatter of tongues?itaque nec linguarum strepitu excipi The words est … dignum are carried over again: "therefore (it is) not (worthy) to be received with a clatter of tongues either". nec here means "not … either": praise from the crowd is only applause by another name. Words left out: esse, sum and others understoodquid enim sunt aliud vulgi acclamationes, quam linguarum strepitus quid aliud … quam "what else … than": the question means "they are nothing but a clatter of tongues". quid is singular although the subject acclamationes is plural: "what other thing". itaso cumwhen ettoo gloriolamglōriolampetty glory missamlet go fecerisfēceris,you have made quidwhat tandemthen, after all supereritwill be left pretiopretiōof value dignum?worthySo when you have let go of petty glory too, what, then, will be left that is worthy of value?gloriolam missam feceris missum facere "to make (something) sent away" is an idiom for "to let go, dismiss"; the participle agrees with the object, gloriolam missam. feceris is a future perfect after cum "when": "when you (will) have let go". gloriola, a scornful diminutive of gloria, is "petty fame". The future perfect ("if you will have done…")quid tandem supererit pretio dignum tandem in a question adds impatience: "what, then, will be left?". supererit is the future of supersum "be left over", and pretio dignum "worthy of value" agrees with quid. hocthis unumūnum,one thing opinoropīnor,I think secundumaccording to conditionisconditiōnisof constitution suaeone's own rationemratiōnem,the plan moverimovērīto move sequesēqueand oneself sistere,to hold still hocthis est,is adto quodwhich studiapursuits reliquaother artesqueartēsqueand the arts nosnōsus ducuntdūcunt.leadThis one thing, I think: to move and to hold oneself still according to the plan of one's own constitution; this is what the other pursuits and the arts lead us to.hoc unum, opinor opinor "I think" is dropped in parenthetically, like English "I suppose"; the sentence itself is hoc unum (est pretio dignum) "this one thing (is worth valuing)", and the infinitives that follow say what "this" is. Words left out: esse, sum and others understoodsecundum conditionis suae rationem, moveri seque sistere conditio (Gataker's spelling of condicio) is one's make-up or constitution, and ratio its plan: secundum conditionis suae rationem "according to the plan of one's own constitution". suae refers to the unexpressed subject of the infinitives, "one's own". moveri is passive in form but means "to move", and se sistere "to set oneself still" is "to stop, hold back": to act and to refrain as our own nature directs. The passive with a reflexive sense ("be carried away", "let yourself be…")hoc est, ad quod studia reliqua artesque nos ducunt The antecedent of ad quod is left out: hoc est (id) ad quod … "this is (that) to which …", i.e. "this is what the other pursuits and the arts lead us to". The next sentences show how. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod omnisevery enimfor arsart adat hocthis collimatcollīmat,aims utthat quicquidwhatever producitprōdūcit,it produces adfor opuswork, task illudthat aptumfit sit,should be adfor quodwhich productumprōductumproduced est.it wasFor every art aims at this, that whatever it produces should be fit for the work for which it was produced.ad hoc collimat, ut … aptum sit collimare "to aim, take aim" is a later form of collineare "to aim in a straight line" (from linea "line"); it takes ad hoc "at this", and hoc is explained by the ut clause: "that whatever it produces be fit …". The subject of aptum sit is the clause quicquid producit "whatever it produces", so aptum is neuter. aptus ad is "fit for". Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)ad opus illud … ad quod productum est opus illud … ad quod "that work for which": each thing is made for a task, and is good in so far as it is fit for it. productum est is the perfect passive, the participle with est: "it was produced". Applied to man, the task is to act as his constitution directs. siquidemsīquidemfor indeed hocthis vinitorvīnitorthe vine-dresser quiquīwho vitesvītēsthe vines colit,tends hocthis quiquīhe who equosequōshorses domat,breaks, tames hocthis quiquīhe who canescanēsdogs curatcūrat,looks after intendit.aims atFor this is what the vine-dresser who tends the vines aims at, and he who breaks horses, and he who looks after dogs.hoc vinitor qui vites colit, hoc qui equos domat, hoc qui canes curat, intendit hoc "this" is repeated with each new subject, and the single verb intendit "aims at" waits until the end. The second and third subjects are relative clauses with no antecedent: qui equos domat "(he) who breaks horses". siquidem "for indeed" brings in examples of the arts: the vine-dresser wants a vine fit to bear, the trainer a horse fit to ride, the keeper a dog fit to hunt or guard. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod quinquīnwhy, indeed etalso puerorumpuerōrumof boys institutionesīnstitūtiōnēsthe training etand disciplinaedisciplīnaethe teaching adtowards quidwhat aliudelse contendunt?striveWhy, what else do the training and the teaching of boys strive towards?quin et puerorum institutiones et disciplinae ad quid aliud contendunt quin et "why, even" adds a further example; the second et joins institutiones "training" and disciplinae "teaching", both with puerorum "of boys". The question expects no answer: "to what else do they strive?" means "to nothing else" than making a boy fit for his work as a man. isticistīcthere ergoergōthen reperiturreperīturis found quodwhat inin pretiopretiōvalue sitis habendum.to be held atqueand hocthis benewell sisīif habuerit,it is (well) nihilnothing aliudelse quodwhich acquirasacquīrās,you should acquire opusneeded erit.will beThere, then, is found what is to be held in value. And if this is in good order, there will be no need of anything else for you to acquire.quod in pretio sit habendum sit habendum is the gerundive of obligation: "what is to be held, what must be held". in pretio habere "to hold in value", as in section 15. The clause has no antecedent and is the subject of reperitur: "there is found what must be valued". Gerundive of obligation (cavenda est, agenda sunt)hoc bene si habuerit bene habere "to be well, be in good order" is used without an object; its subject hoc "this" (acting by one's own constitution) is put before si. habuerit is a future perfect in a future condition: "if this is (will have been) in good order". The future perfect ("if you will have done…")nihil aliud quod acquiras, opus erit opus est "there is need" takes the thing needed as its subject: nihil aliud … opus erit "nothing else will be needed". quod acquiras is a relative clause in the subjunctive, saying what the thing would be for: "for you to acquire". Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui) nonnōnnot tutūyou desinesdēsinēswill you stop tandemat last inin pretiopretiōvalue aliaother things multamany haberehabēre?holding necneither liberlīberfree itaqueand so futurusfutūrusgoing to be es,you are necnor tibifor yourself sufficiessufficiēs,you will suffice necnor perturbationibusperturbātiōnibusfrom disturbances immunisimmūnisexempt eris.you will beWill you not at last stop holding many other things in value? And so you are not going to be free, nor sufficient for yourself, nor exempt from disturbances.non tu desines tandem … habere A question with non expects the answer "yes": "will you not stop at last?". With the future and tandem it is really an impatient command: "stop at last!". desino "cease" takes an infinitive, habere; in pretio … alia multa habere "to hold many other things in value".nec liber itaque futurus es itaque "and so" draws the consequence of going on as before: as long as you value many things, you will not be free. futurus es "you are going to be" is the future participle of sum with es. Then nec … nec … nec "neither … nor … nor". sibi sufficere "to be enough for oneself" is to be self-sufficient; immunis "exempt" takes an ablative of what one is free from, perturbationibus. Future participle with sum (moriturus sis, victurus esses) etenimfor necessenecessary eritit will be invidereinvidēre,to envy aemulariaemulārī,to be jealous eoseōsthose suspectossuspectōssuspect haberehabēre,to hold quiquīwho hishīsof these things privareprīvāreto deprive tetēyou possunt,can eiseīsagainst those struereto lay insidiasīnsidiās,plots quiquīwho id,that quodwhich tutūyou tantitantīso highly aestimasaestimās,you value possident.possessFor you will have to envy, to be jealous, to hold suspect those who can deprive you of these things, to lay plots against those who possess what you value so highly.necesse erit invidere, aemulari, eos suspectos habere necesse erit "it will be necessary" takes a string of infinitives as its subject, ending with struere insidias; the person is not named, but it is you, who prize such things. aemulari is the infinitive of the deponent aemulor "be jealous of, rival". suspectos habere "to hold (people) suspect". The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement)eos … qui his privare te possunt, eis struere insidias, qui id Each form of is prepares a qui clause: eos … qui … "those who can …", eis … qui … "those who possess …". privare "to deprive" takes the person in the accusative, te, and the thing in the ablative, his "of these things". eis is dative with struere insidias "to lay plots against". Ablative of separation (a, ab, absque, liber, immunis, alienus)quod tu tanti aestimas tanti "at so much" is a genitive of value: tanti aestimare "to value so highly". Latin puts the price or worth of a thing in the genitive with verbs of valuing (magni, pluris, tanti). omninoomnīnōaltogether, inevitably necessenecessary eritit will be macerarimācerārīto be tormented tetē,you ubiwhenever horumhōrumof these things tibito you aliquidanything defueritdēfuerit;is lacking etand dedēabout DiisDiīsthe Gods etiameven saepenumerosaepenumerōoften conquericonquerī.to complainYou will inevitably be tormented whenever any of these things fails you; and often even complain about the Gods.necesse erit macerari te This time necesse erit has an accusative and infinitive: te macerari "that you be tormented". macerare is "to soak, soften", and in the passive "to be worn away, to fret". conqueri "to complain", a deponent, depends on necesse erit too, with te still its subject. Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement)ubi horum tibi aliquid defuerit ubi "when, whenever" takes the future perfect where English uses a present: "whenever any of these things fails you". deesse "to be lacking" takes the dative of the person, tibi; horum is partitive with aliquid. The future perfect ("if you will have done…") atbut contracontrāon the other hand mentemmind propriamyour own sisīif inin venerationevenerātiōnereverence acand honorehonōrehonour habueris,you hold etboth tibito yourself gratumgrātumpleasing idthis tetēyou faciat,would make etand communionicommūniōnīfor fellowship accommodum,fit etand DiisDiīswith the Gods consentientemcōnsentientem,in harmony dumas long as quaecunquewhatever illiillīthey attribuuntassign acand constituuntcōnstituunt,ordain laudaslaudās.you praiseBut if, on the other hand, you hold your own mind in reverence and honour, this would make you both pleasing to yourself, and fit for fellowship, and in harmony with the Gods, as long as you praise whatever they assign and ordain.mentem propriam si in veneratione ac honore habueris mentem propriam "your own mind" is the object of habueris and is put before si to set it against the many outward things just listed. in veneratione ac honore habere "to hold in reverence and honour" is built like in pretio habere. habueris is a future perfect in a future condition; the main verb, faciat, is not the expected future faciet but a present subjunctive, which states the result as what would follow: "this would make you". Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)et tibi gratum id te faciat, et communioni accommodum, et Diis consentientem facere with an object and a predicate means "to make (someone) so": id te faciat gratum "this would make you pleasing". et … et … et "both … and … and" joins three predicates, each with its dative: tibi gratum "pleasing to yourself", communioni accommodum "suited to fellowship", Diis consentientem "in harmony with the Gods" (a present participle used as an adjective). id "this" is holding your mind in honour. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivedum quaecunque illi attribuunt ac constituunt, laudas dum with the present is "while, as long as". quaecunque "whatever things" is the object of all three verbs, and illi "they" are the Gods: harmony with them consists in praising what they assign and ordain. Temporal clauses: dum, ubi, quando, quoties, quamdiu

The elements move up, down, and round in a circle; the motion of virtue follows none of these paths. It is something more divine, and goes on its way, hard as that way is to trace, always prospering.

Sursum,upwards deorsum,downwards inin, into orbema circle ferunturare carried, move elementa.the elements virtutisvirtūtisof virtue verovērōhowever motusmōtusthe motion nullanūllāby none harumhārumof these viaviāway fertur.is carried, movesUpwards, downwards, round in a circle the elements are carried. The motion of virtue, however, is carried by none of these ways.Sursum, deorsum, in orbem feruntur elementa feruntur "are carried" is a passive used of motion, "they move". In the old physics the heavy elements, earth and water, move down, the light ones, air and fire, move up, and the heavens move round in a circle, in orbem. The three adverbs come first for emphasis. The passive with a reflexive sense ("be carried away", "let yourself be…")nulla harum via harum "of these" is feminine because viarum "ways" is understood from via: "by none of these ways", the up, the down and the circle just named. via is an ablative of the way by which, as in hac via "by this road". Partitive genitive (aliquid boni, nihil…) sedbut diviniusdīvīniusmore divine estit is quiddam,something viaqueviāqueand by a way haudnot facilifacilīeasy apprehensuapprehēnsūto grasp progrediensprōgrediēns,advancing prospereprosperēprosperously semperalways proceditprōcēdit.goes forwardBut it is something more divine, and, advancing by a way not easy to grasp, it always goes forward prosperously.divinius est quiddam divinius is the neuter comparative of divinus, agreeing with quiddam "something": the motion of virtue is "something more divine" than the motions of the elements. Its subject, motus, carries over from the last sentence.haud facili apprehensu apprehensu is the supine in -u, used with adjectives like facilis to say in what respect: facili apprehensu "easy to grasp" (compare toleratu facilia in section 12). haud "not" negates facili: the path of virtue is hard for the mind to follow.progrediens, prospere semper procedit progrediens "advancing" is the present participle of the deponent progredior, agreeing with motus. Though its path is hard to trace, virtue always gets on well: prospere procedit "goes forward prosperously". Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns

Men refuse to praise the people of their own time, yet set great store by being praised by later generations, who will never know them. That is almost like grieving because the men of old did not praise you.

QualeQuāle,what sort of (thing) quaesoquaesō,I ask you hocthis est,is quodwhich faciuntthey do homineshominēs?menWhat sort of thing is this, I ask you, that men do?quaeso quaeso "I ask (you)", an old form of quaero, is dropped into a sentence as English drops in "pray" or "I ask you". It has no grammatical link to the rest; it gives the question a tone of surprise. eoseōs,those quiquīwho eodemeōdemat the same secumsēcumas themselves temporetime vivuntvīvunt,live laudarelaudāreto praise cumalthough renuant;they refuse ipsiipsīthey themselves aāby posterisposterīs,those who come after quiquīwho eoseōsthem necneither norintnōrintwill have known unquamever necnor viderintvīderint,will have seen celebraricelebrārīto be celebrated plurimiplūrimīat the highest value faciunt.they valueThough they refuse to praise those who live at the same time as themselves, they themselves set the highest value on being celebrated by those who come after them, who will never have known them or seen them.laudare cum renuant cum with the subjunctive often means "although". Here it comes after the infinitive it governs: eos … laudare cum renuant "although they refuse to praise those …". The clause is set against what follows, ipsi … plurimi faciunt: they grudge praise to the living, yet crave it from posterity. Concessive clauses: etiamsi, quamvis, cumeodem secum tempore idem … cum means "the same as": eodem secum tempore "at the same time as themselves". secum is cum se, and se points back to the men of the main clause: the people they refuse to praise are their own contemporaries.norint … viderint norint is the short form of noverint. noverint and viderint could be perfect subjunctives or future perfects; the sense here is future: posterity, not yet born, "will never have known or seen" the men who want its praise. Perfect stems and short forms (norim, posuere)celebrari plurimi faciunt plurimi facere "to value at the highest price": the genitive plurimi names the value set on something (so magni, pluris, nihili facere). What they value is the infinitive celebrari "to be celebrated", and a posteris names the agent: "by those who come after". hocthis autembut idemthe same (thing) estis prope,almost acas sisīif quissomeone contristareturcontrīstārētur,were saddened quiabecause homineshominēsmen prisciprīscīof old encomiisencōmiīswith praises eumhim nonnōnnot sinthad prosecutiprōsecūtī.honouredBut this is almost the same as if someone were to grieve because the men of old had not honoured him with praises.idem est prope, ac si After words of likeness Latin uses ac (= atque) for "as": idem ac "the same as", and ac si "as if". The imperfect subjunctive contristaretur marks the case as imagined: "as if someone were to grieve". Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)quia homines prisci encomiis eum non sint prosecuti prosequi aliquem encomiis is "to honour someone with praises"; prosequor is deponent, so sint prosecuti is active in sense. The subjunctive after quia gives the grieving man's own reason, not the writer's. The reason is absurd: the men of old lived before him, as posterity will live after us. Subjunctive in clauses inside reported speech or thought

If something is hard for you, do not conclude that no one can do it. If any man can do it, and it is a task proper to a man, believe that you can achieve it too.

NoliNōlī,do not siquidsīquidif anything tibifor you fueritit proves effectueffectūto accomplish difficile,hard opinariopīnārīto think ideoideō,for that reason hominemman nullumnūllumno idit posse.can (do)If anything is hard for you to accomplish, do not think on that account that no man can do it.Noli … opinari noli ("be unwilling") with an infinitive is the usual way to forbid: noli opinari "do not think". The siquid clause is set in between the two words. Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctivesiquid tibi fuerit effectu difficile fuerit is future perfect, "if anything shall have proved hard". Latin is exact about time where English uses a present: "if something is hard for you". effectu is the supine in -u of efficio, used after adjectives such as difficilis and facilis: "hard to accomplish", literally "hard in the doing". The future perfect ("if you will have done…")hominem nullum id posse After a verb of thinking, what is thought goes into the accusative and infinitive: hominem nullum id posse "that no man can do it", literally "no man to be able (to do) it". The subject of the reported thought, hominem nullum, is in the accusative; id is the object of posse, with facere understood. Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement) Sedbut siquidsīquidif anything fuerit,there is quodwhich possitcan (do) quisquam,anyone hominisqueand a man's sitis munusmūnus,task idit tetēyou quoquetoo assequiassequīto achieve possecan existimesexīstimēs.you should believeBut if there is anything that anyone can do, and that is a man's proper task, you should believe that you too can achieve it.quod possit quisquam, hominisque sit munus The relative clause describes the kind of thing meant, so its verbs are subjunctive: "anything such that anyone can do it and it is a man's proper task". quod is the object of possit (with facere understood) and the subject of sit; hominis munus is "the task of a man", work that belongs to human nature. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui)id te quoque assequi posse existimes existimes is a jussive subjunctive, a milder command than the imperative: "you should believe". It answers noli opinari in the first sentence. Again a verb of thinking takes the accusative and infinitive: te … posse "that you can", with assequi "to achieve" depending on posse; id gathers up the whole siquid clause. Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")

When someone scratches or butts us while we exercise, we take no offence and do not suspect him afterwards, though we keep out of his way. We should do the same in the rest of life: overlook the knocks we get from those matched with us, and keep clear of them without suspicion or hatred.

Interwhile exercendum,exercising siquissīquisif anyone unguibuswith his nails lancinaveritlancināverit,has torn (us) autor capitehis head allisoallīsōdashed (against us) plagamplāgama blow impegeritimpēgerit,has dealt nullamnūllamno indignationisindignātiōnisof indignation notamsign edimusēdimus,we show necand not offendimur,we take offence necnor tanquamas insidiatoremīnsidiātōrema plotter deincepsafterwards suspectumsuspect hunchim habemushabēmus.we holdIf, while we are exercising, someone has torn us with his nails, or has dashed his head against us and dealt us a blow, we show no sign of indignation, we take no offence, and we do not afterwards hold him suspect as a plotter.Inter exercendum inter with the gerund means "while, in the course of": inter exercendum "while exercising". The picture is the gymnasium or wrestling ground, where scratches and knocks from a partner are part of the training and nobody takes them as an attack. The gerund (agendo, laedendi)siquis … lancinaverit … impegerit, nullam indignationis notam edimus The si clause has future perfects ("if anyone shall have torn …"), the main clause the present (edimus, offendimur, habemus): a general truth, "whenever this happens, we do not …". English says "if someone has scratched us". Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)capite alliso plagam impegerit capite alliso is an ablative absolute, "his head being dashed (against us)", that is, by butting; plagam impingere is "to deal a blow". Ablative absoluteedimus edimus is from ēdo, ēdere "to give out, show" (e + do), not from edo, esse "to eat": notam edere "to show a sign".tanquam insidiatorem deinceps suspectum hunc habemus suspectum habere is "to hold (someone) suspect": hunc is the object and suspectum says how we regard him. tanquam insidiatorem "as a plotter" says what we might suspect him of being. cavemuscavēmuswe guard tamenyet nobisnōbīsourselves abagainst eoeōhim quantumas far as possumus,we can sedbut necnot tanquamas abfrom hoste,an enemy autor tanquamas suspicacessuspicācēs,suspicious people verumvērumbut ita,in such a way utthat animoanimōwith a mind pacatopācātōcalm declinemusdēclīnēmuswe step aside tantum.onlyYet we guard ourselves against him as far as we can, but not as against an enemy, nor as suspicious people, but only in such a way that we calmly keep out of his way.cavemus tamen nobis ab eo cavere sibi ab aliquo is "to guard oneself against someone": the dative nobis says for whose safety, and ab eo whom we guard against. Dative of reference, possession and advantageverum ita, ut animo pacato declinemus tantum ita … ut with the subjunctive: "in such a way that". declinare is "to turn aside": we simply step out of his way, and do it with a calm mind (animo pacato, an ablative of manner). Result clauses (ut after ita, tam, sic) eodemeōdemthe same planeplānējust, quite modomodōway ettoo inin reliquareliquāthe rest of nosnōsourselves vitavītālife geramusgerāmus.let us conduct nenēlet us not advertamusadvertāmuslet us turn illisillīsto those things animum,our mind quaewhich abfrom eiseīs,those quiquīwho nobiscumnōbīscumwith us inin vitavītālife quasias it were committuntur,are matched hujusmodihujusmodīof this kind nobisnōbīsto us multamany (things) contingunt.happenIn just the same way let us behave in the rest of life too. Let us pay no attention to the many things of this kind that come to us from those who are, as it were, matched with us in life.nos vita geramus geramus is a hortatory subjunctive, "let us conduct"; se gerere is "to conduct oneself, behave", here with nos "ourselves", set inside in reliqua … vita. After the picture of the gymnasium comes the lesson for the rest of life. Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")ne advertamus illis animum animum advertere (often run together as animadvertere) is "to turn the mind to, take notice of", here with the dative illis "to those things". ne with the subjunctive makes a negative exhortation: "let us not pay attention to". Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")quae ab eis … hujusmodi nobis multa contingunt The relative clause is loosely built: quae is the subject of contingunt, and hujusmodi multa "many things of this kind" stands beside it, with nobis "to us" between them: "which, many such, befall us". That is, the many knocks of this sort that we get from others.qui nobiscum in vita quasi committuntur committere is the word for matching two fighters or wrestlers against each other; quasi "as it were" marks the image. The people we live among are like our partners in the gymnasium. licetone may enimfor illosillōsthem caverecavēreto guard against etand declinaredēclīnāreto avoid citracitrāwithout suspicionemsuspīciōnemsuspicion ullamūllamany autor odium.hatredFor one may guard against them and keep out of their way without any suspicion or hatred.licet … cavere et declinare licet "it is allowed, one may" is impersonal and has an infinitive as its subject. cavere "to beware of" here takes a direct object, illos: "to guard against them". citra "on this side of" is Gataker's word for "without". Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur)

If anyone can show me that I think or act wrongly, I will gladly change, for I seek the truth, and the truth never harmed anyone. The one harmed is he who persists in his error and ignorance.

SiSīif quisanyone convincereto convince memēme poterit,will be able palamqueand plainly mihito me facere,to make quodthat inin rerēmatter ullaūllāany minusless than recterēctērightly veleither sentiamI think velor memēmyself geram,I conduct laetolaetōglad lubentiquelubentīqueand willing animoanimōwith a mind mutabomūtābō.I will changeIf anyone can convince me and show me plainly that in any matter I either think or act less than rightly, I will change with a glad and willing mind.Si quis convincere me poterit … mutabo A condition about the future, with the future in both halves: poterit "will be able" and mutabo "I will change". English puts the si clause in the present: "if anyone can convince me, I will change". This is the plain way of speaking about what may really happen. Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)palamque mihi facere, quod palam facere "to make plain" depends, like convincere, on poterit. quod "that" introduces what is to be shown, and its verbs sentiam and geram are subjunctive because they give the charge as the other man would make it, not as a fact. Subjunctive in clauses inside reported speech or thoughtminus recte vel sentiam vel me geram minus recte "less than rightly" is a polite way of saying "wrongly". vel … vel "either … or" covers both thought and action: sentire "to think, hold an opinion", se gerere "to behave". Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivelaeto lubentique animo lubens is the older spelling of libens "willing", which Gataker keeps (as in lubenter). laeto lubentique animo is an ablative of manner: "with a glad and willing mind". Gataker's spelling: j, caeterum, quenquam, -cunque sectorI pursue enimfor veritatemvēritātem,the truth aāby quaquāwhich nemonēmōno one unquamever laesusharmed est.has beenFor I seek the truth, by which no one has ever been harmed.sector sector looks like a noun but is a verb: the deponent sector, sectari "to follow eagerly, pursue", made from sequor. Being deponent, the passive form sector means "I pursue". Deponent verbs: passive forms, active meaninga qua nemo unquam laesus est laesus est is the perfect passive, "has been harmed", and a qua treats the truth as the agent: "by which no one has ever been harmed". This is why he will gladly be corrected: the truth can only help him. Agent with the passive: a, ab with the ablative laedituris harmed verovērō,but quiquīhe who inin erroreerrōreerror suosuōhis own etand ignorantiaignōrantiāignorance persistit.persistsThe one who is harmed is he who persists in his own error and ignorance.laeditur vero, qui The relative clause has no antecedent and is itself the subject: qui … persistit "he who persists". Putting laeditur first sets it against laesus est: the truth harms no one; error harms the one who clings to it. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod

I do my own duty, and nothing else troubles me; for everything else is either lifeless, or without reason, or has gone astray and does not know the way.

Ego,I quodwhat meimeīmy estis officiiofficiī,(part) of duty exequor.I carry outI carry out what is my duty.quod mei est officii A genitive used as a predicate with esse says what something belongs to: quod mei est officii "what is of my duty", that is, what belongs to my duty. The relative clause has no antecedent and is itself the object of exequor: "I carry out what …". Ego is put first: I, for my part. exequor is Gataker's spelling of exsequor "carry out". Genitive of characteristic: "it belongs to…, it is the mark of…" reliquathe other things memēme neutiquamnot at all solicitumanxious habent.keepThe other things do not trouble me at all.me neutiquam solicitum habent habere with an object and a predicate adjective is "to keep someone (in a state)": me solicitum habent "keep me anxious", so "trouble me". reliqua "the rest" is everything that is not my own duty. Gataker writes solicitus for sollicitus. auteither enimfor suntthey are inanima,lifeless autor rationisratiōnisin reason expertia,without a share autor aberrantia,straying viaequeand of the way nescia.ignorantFor they are either lifeless, or without a share in reason, or straying and ignorant of the way.aut … aut … aut aut … aut "either … or", here three times, sets out sharply distinct alternatives. They are the kinds of thing that might trouble us: things without soul (stones, wood), things without reason (beasts), and men who have lost their way. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivesunt inanima inanima is the neuter plural of inanimus "lifeless, without a soul" (the Greek has "soulless"): "they are lifeless", like stones and wood. Gataker's edition of 1652 prints it as two words, in anima, but it is one word, not in "in" with anima "soul".rationis expertia expers "having no share in" takes the genitive: rationis expertia "without a share in reason", the beasts. expertia is neuter plural, like inanima and aberrantia, to agree with reliqua.aberrantia, viaeque nescia aberrantia is a present participle used like an adjective, neuter plural to agree with reliqua: "straying". sunt at the start serves all three predicates. nescius "not knowing" takes the genitive: viae nescia "ignorant of the way". Participles: present, perfect, future, and as nouns

Treat beasts and all things without reason with a great and free spirit, as one who has reason; treat men, who share reason with you, as your partners; and in everything call on the gods. How long you do this does not matter: three hours spent so will be enough.

Animantibus,animals adeoqueadeōqueand indeed omnibusall inin universumūniversumgeneral rebusrēbusthings acand subjectissubjectīsobjects rationisratiōnisin reason exortibus,having no share utpoteinasmuch as rationeratiōnewith reason praeditusendowed ipseyourself quiquīone who sissīs,you are magnomagnōgreat liberoquelīberōqueand free utarisūtārisyou should treat animoanimō.spiritAnimals, and indeed all things and objects in general that have no share in reason, you should treat with a great and free spirit, since you yourself are one endowed with reason.Animantibus … utaris utor "use, deal with, treat" is deponent and takes the ablative, so everything from Animantibus to exortibus is ablative: the things you are to treat. utaris is a jussive subjunctive, "you should treat". Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")adeoque omnibus in universum rebus ac subjectis adeo "indeed, even" widens the list: "animals, and indeed all things". in universum is an idiom, "in general, as a whole". subjecta, the neuter participle of subjicio used as a noun, are the things set before us or under us: the material objects we deal with.utpote ratione praeditus ipse qui sis utpote qui with the subjunctive gives a reason: "inasmuch as you are one who …". The order is free: utpote … qui sis, with ratione praeditus ipse "yourself endowed with reason" placed in between. Relative clauses with the subjunctive (characteristic, ut qui)magno liberoque utaris animo magno liberoque … animo is an ablative of manner wrapped round the verb: "with a great and free spirit", that is, generously, as a free man deals, not grudging or harsh. One who has reason should deal largely with what lacks it. Ablative of means, cause and manner homineshominēsmen verovērō,but cumsince rationisratiōnisin reason sintthey are tecumtēcumwith you participesparticipēs,sharers tanquamas societatesocietātein fellowship tibito you conjunctosconjūnctōs,joined habeashabeās.you should regardBut men, since they share reason with you, you should treat as bound to you in fellowship.cum rationis sint tecum participes cum with the subjunctive here gives the reason: "since they share reason with you". particeps "sharing in" takes the genitive: rationis participes "sharers in reason". Causal clauses: quod, quia, siquidem, cum, quippehomines … tanquam societate tibi conjunctos, habeas Another jussive, habeas "you should regard", with an object and a predicate: homines … conjunctos "men as joined (to you)". Beasts you treat generously, as their superior; men, who have reason as you do, you treat as partners, socially. Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…") inin cunctiscūnctīseverything verovērōand opemhelp divinamdīvīnamdivine advocesadvocēs:you should call on necand not interesseit makes a difference existimesexīstimēs,you should think quamdiuquamdiūhow long haecthese things facturusfactūrusgoing to do sissīs.you are suffecerintsuffēcerintwill be enough enimfor sicsīcin this way exactaeexāctaespent veleven horaehōraehours trestrēs.threeAnd in everything call on divine help; and do not think it matters how long you will be doing these things. For even three hours spent in this way will be enough.in cunctis vero opem divinam advoces A third jussive completes the scheme of the section: beasts, men, and now the gods, whose help (opem divinam) you are to call on in everything (in cunctis, neuter plural used as a noun). Jussive and hortatory subjunctive ("let him…", "you should…")nec interesse existimes, quamdiu haec facturus sis interest "it makes a difference, it matters" is impersonal; after existimes it becomes the infinitive interesse, and the indirect question quamdiu … facturus sis is its subject: "do not think that it matters how long you will be doing this". nec with a jussive means "and do not". Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur)facturus sis The future participle with sum looks ahead: facturus sis "you are going to do, you will be doing". It is subjunctive because it stands in an indirect question. Future participle with sum (moriturus sis, victurus esses)suffecerint enim sic exactae vel horae tres suffecerint is best taken as future perfect, "will have been enough", a firm statement of the result (it could also be a perfect subjunctive, "would be enough"). vel here is not "or" but "even": "even three hours spent so". A life lived in this way is complete, however short. The future perfect ("if you will have done…")

Death brought Alexander of Macedon and his muleteer to the same state: either both were taken back into the seed-principles of the world, or both were scattered into atoms.

AlexanderAlexander MacedoMacedō,the Macedonian ejusdemqueand the same man's muliomūliō,muleteer simulas soon acas mortuimortuīdead fuerant,had adto idemthe same (state) planeplānēexactly redactiredāctībrought sunt.wereAlexander of Macedon and his muleteer, as soon as they had died, were brought to exactly the same state.Alexander Macedo, ejusdemque mulio Alexander Macedo is Alexander the Great, king of Macedon; Macedo "the Macedonian" stands beside his name. ejusdem "of the same man" is the genitive of idem: "and his muleteer", the humblest of his servants set beside the greatest of kings.simul ac mortui fuerant, ad idem plane redacti sunt simul ac "as soon as" (also written simulac, simul atque) takes the indicative. mortui fuerant is a pluperfect of the deponent morior, made with fuerant where classical Latin has mortui erant: "as soon as they had died". The two subjects share one plural verb: in death king and muleteer go together. redigere ad is "to bring down to, reduce to": ad idem "to the same (condition)". Temporal clauses: dum, ubi, quando, quoties, quamdiu veleither enimfor ininto easdemeāsdemthe same mundimundīof the world rationesratiōnēsprinciples seminalessēminālēsseed- receptireceptī,taken back velor ininto atomosatomōsatoms pariteralike suntwere dissipatidissipātī.scatteredFor either they were taken back into the same seed-principles of the world, or they were alike scattered into atoms.vel … vel vel … vel "either … or", like aut … aut in 6.22, sets out the two accounts of the world that Marcus often weighs: the Stoic, in which all things are taken back into the reason of the universe, and the Epicurean, in which they fall apart into atoms. Either way, king and muleteer end alike. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sivein easdem mundi rationes seminales recepti rationes seminales "seed-principles" (Greek logoi spermatikoi) are the Stoic forces in the world from which each thing grows and into which it is taken back. recepti has no verb of its own: sunt in the second half serves both participles. atomus is feminine, as in Greek, so atomos is accusative plural. Words left out: esse, sum and others understood

Think how many things happen at one moment within each of us, in body and soul alike. Then you will not wonder that far more, indeed everything, happens at once in the one universe we call the world.

CogitaCōgitāconsider tecumtēcum,with yourself quothow many (things) intraintrāwithin nostrumof us unumquemqueūnumquemque,each one tamboth inin corpore,the body quamand etalso inin animaanimā,the soul unoūnōone eodemqueeōdemqueand the same temporisof time momentomōmentōmoment simulat once fiantfīant.happenConsider how many things happen at once within each one of us, both in the body and in the soul, in one and the same moment of time.Cogita tecum, quot … fiant quot … fiant "how many things happen" is an indirect question after cogita, so its verb is subjunctive. quot does not decline; here it is the subject, "how many things". cogita tecum "think with yourself" is "consider in your own mind". Indirect questionsnostrum unumquemque nostrum is the partitive genitive of nos: unumquemque nostrum "each one of us". (The other genitive, nostri, is used for "of us" as the object of a feeling.) Partitive genitive (aliquid boni, nihil…)tam in corpore, quam et in anima tam … quam "as much … as", here simply "both … and"; et adds "also". uno eodemque temporis momento "in one and the same moment of time" is an ablative of time. Paired words: et…et, nec…nec, vel…vel, cum…tum, non tam…quam, sive…sive itain this way fietfīet,it will come about nenēthat … not miraculomīrāculōa cause of wonder sit,it is sisīif pluraplūramore things multa,many velor cunctacūnctaall things potiusrather quaewhich fiuntfīunt,happen inin hochōcthis unoūnō,one quemwhich mundumthe world utiqueutīqueindeed vocamusvocāmus,we call universoūniversō,universe simulat once producanturprōdūcantur.are producedIn this way it will come about that it is no wonder if many more things, or rather all the things that happen, are produced at once in this one universe, which, indeed, we call the world.ita fiet, ne miraculo sit fit ut "it happens that" takes a noun clause in the subjunctive; for the negative Gataker writes ne where classical Latin would have ut non: ita fiet, ne miraculo sit "so it will come about that it is no wonder". miraculo is a predicative dative: miraculo esse "to serve as a wonder, be a cause of wonder". Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)si plura multa, vel cuncta potius quae fiunt The si clause is the subject of sit: "that it is no wonder if …". Its verb producantur is subjunctive because it stands inside a subjunctive clause. plura multa "many more things": Gataker sets the positive multa "many" beside the comparative plura "more", where classical Latin would write multo plura, with multo "by much". vel … potius "or rather" corrects to something stronger. Subjunctive in clauses inside reported speech or thoughtin hoc uno, quem mundum utique vocamus, universo The relative clause is set inside the phrase in hoc uno … universo. quem refers to universo (neuter) but is masculine to agree with mundum, the noun in its own clause; a relative often takes the gender of such a predicate noun. If one small body holds so much at one moment, it is no wonder that the whole world holds everything. Relative clauses and the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod

Asked how to spell Antoninus, you would not shout the letters, and if the listener grew angry you would not grow angry back, but would calmly go on letter by letter. So every duty is made up of its steps: carry it through calmly, without answering anger with anger.

SiSīif quisanyone tetēyou rogaveritrogāverit,asks AntoniniAntōnīnīof Antoninus nomennōmenthe name quomodoquōmodohow scribaturscrībātur,it is spelled nunquidsurely … not? cumwith vocisvōcisof the voice intensioneintēnsiōnea straining elementaletters singulaone by one proferresprōferrēs?would you utterIf someone asks you how the name Antoninus is spelled, would you utter the letters one by one at the top of your voice?Si quis te rogaverit … nunquid … proferres? The si clause has the future perfect (rogaverit "shall have asked"), as if the case could really happen; the main clause shifts to the imperfect subjunctive proferres "would you utter?", the mood of an imagined case. English: "if someone asks you …, would you …?" Conditional sentences (si, nisi, siquis)Antonini nomen quomodo scribatur quomodo scribatur "how it is written" is an indirect question after rogaverit, with the subjunctive. Antonini nomen "the name of Antoninus", that is, the name Antoninus, is drawn out in front of quomodo. Antoninus was one of Marcus's own names; to spell it one says the letters in turn, A, N, T, O, and so on. Indirect questionsnunquid cum vocis intensione elementa singula proferres nunquid (= num) opens a question that expects "no": "surely you would not …?" cum vocis intensione "with a straining of the voice" means shouting. elementa, like Greek stoicheia, are both "elements" and "letters of the alphabet"; here letters. quidwhat igitur?then sisīif irascunturīrāscunturthey get angry tibi,with you numsurely … not? tutūyou vicissimin return illisillīswith them succensebissuccēnsēbis?will you be angryWhat then? If they get angry with you, will you be angry with them in return?quid igitur? quid igitur? "what then?" is a short question that turns to the next step; a verb such as est is understood. Words left out: esse, sum and others understoodnum tu vicissim illis succensebis? num opens a question that expects "no": "surely you will not be angry with them in return?" Both irasci and succensere "to be angry with" take the dative of the person: tibi, illis. irascuntur has no subject expressed: "they", the people you are spelling the name for. Dative with special and compound verbs (succensere, obsequi) etand nonnōnnot potiusrather literaslīterāsletters singulassingulāsone by one placideplacidēcalmly enumerareēnumerāreto count out perges?will you go onAnd will you not rather go on calmly counting out the letters one by one?et non potius … perges? A question with non expects "yes": "and will you not rather go on …?" pergere with an infinitive is "to go on (doing)": enumerare perges "you will go on counting out". Gataker writes litera for littera "letter". proindeso ettoo isticistīchere pariparīthe same modomodōway meminerismeminerīs,you should remember officiumduty omneevery quasias it were numerisnumerīsby steps quibusdamcertain absolviabsolvī:to be completedSo here too, in the same way, remember that every duty is completed, as it were, by certain counted steps:memineris, officium omne … absolvi memineris is the perfect subjunctive of memini used as a jussive, "you should remember". What is to be remembered is an accusative and infinitive: officium omne … absolvi "that every duty is completed". Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement)quasi numeris quibusdam numeri are here the counted parts that make up a whole, like the letters of a name: each duty has its set steps, and is finished by going through them one after another, as a name is spelled letter by letter. quasi "as it were" marks the figure. quibusthese observatisobservātīs,being observed oportetit is necessary tetēyou necneither perturbatumperturbātum,troubled necnor indignationemindignātiōnemanger indignationeindignātiōneanger pensantempēnsantem,paying back sedbut rectarēctāstraight on pergentemgoing perficereto complete quodwhat praebefore manibushands est.isKeeping to these, you must complete the task in hand, not troubled, not paying back anger with anger, but going straight on.quibus observatis quibus opens the sentence as a connecting relative, standing for et his: "and these (steps) being observed", an ablative absolute. Keep to the steps of the duty as you keep to the letters of the name. Ablative absoluteoportet te … perficere oportet "it is necessary" takes an accusative and infinitive: te … perficere "that you complete", "you must complete". The three participles in between agree with te and say how: not troubled, not paying back, but going straight on. Impersonal verbs and phrases (oportet, decet, constat, attinet, detur)indignationem indignatione pensantem pensare is "to weigh one thing against another", so "to pay back": indignationem indignatione pensare "to repay anger with anger"; indignatione is an ablative of means.recta pergentem perficere quod prae manibus est recta (with via understood) is "straight on, by the direct road". quod prae manibus est "what is before your hands" is the task in hand.

It is cruel not to let men go after what they think is good for them, yet that is what you do when you resent their wrongdoing, for they do wrong because they think so. If they are mistaken, teach them and show them, but without anger.

CrudeleCrūdēlecruel quiddama … thing est,it is nonnōnnot permittereto allow hominibus,men utto adtowards eathe things ferantur,they be drawn quaewhich adto sesēthemselves pertinerepertinēreto concern sibiqueand to themselves conducerecondūcereto be of benefit opinanturopīnantur.they thinkIt is a cruel thing not to allow men to be drawn towards the things which they think concern them and are of benefit to them.Crudele quiddam est, non permittere The subject of est is the infinitive phrase non permittere … "not to allow": "it is a cruel thing not to allow …". quiddam "a certain thing, something", with crudele, makes "a cruel sort of thing". The infinitive as a noun (subject, object, complement)permittere hominibus, ut ad ea ferantur permittere "to allow" takes a dative of the person and an ut clause for what is allowed: "to allow men that they be carried". ferri ad (passive of fero) is "to be carried towards", to go after something eagerly, as by an impulse. Noun clauses with ut and ne (after oportet, incumbit, necesse est…)quae ad se pertinere sibique conducere opinantur Inside the relative clause stands an accusative and infinitive: quae is the subject of pertinere and conducere, and the whole depends on opinantur: "which they think concern them and benefit them". se and sibi refer to the men, the subject of opinantur. Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement) atquiatquīand yet hocthis tutūyou illisillīsthem quodammodoquōdammodoin a way nonnōnnot permittisyou allow facere,to do cumwhen peccarepeccāredo wrong illosillōsthey aegreaegrēill fers.you takeAnd yet in a way you do not allow them to do this, when you take it ill that they do wrong.atqui hoc tu illis atqui "and yet" brings in the next step of the argument and turns it on the reader: you, who resent wrongdoing, are guilty of that cruelty. Here permittere takes a plain infinitive, facere, instead of the ut clause of the last sentence; both are used.cum peccare illos aegre fers cum with the indicative means "when" in the sense "in that, by the very fact that": your resentment is itself the refusal. aegre ferre "to bear with difficulty, take it ill" takes an accusative and infinitive: peccare illos "that they do wrong". Clauses with cum: when, since, although ferunturthey are drawn enimfor prorsusprōrsus,simply cumwhen peccant,they do wrong adtowards eathe things dedēabout quibuswhich ipsiipsīthey themselves sicsīcso opinanturopīnantur.thinkFor when they do wrong, they are simply drawn towards the things about which they themselves think so.ad ea de quibus ipsi sic opinantur sic opinantur "they think so" points back to the first sentence: they think these things concern them and do them good. Their wrongdoing is the same movement towards what seems good that you would cruelly forbid them. VerumVērumbut resrēs,the matter inquis,you say aliterotherwise sesēitself habet.isBut, you say, the matter is otherwise.res … aliter se habet se habere with an adverb means "to be (in a certain state)": res aliter se habet "the matter is otherwise", that is, these things are not really good for them. inquis "you say" puts the objection in the reader's mouth. tutūyou itaquethen illosillōsthem docedocē,teach erroremqueerrōremqueand the error illisillīsto them ostende,show sedbut absquewithout iracundiaīrācundiā.angerThen teach them, and show them their error, but without anger.tu itaque illos doce doce and ostende are imperatives; tu with an imperative adds weight: "you, then, teach them". If they are mistaken, the cure is teaching, not anger: absque iracundia "without anger". Commands: imperative, memento, ne with the perfect subjunctive