Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 46 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
I shall master my feelings, I think, and go on from Lanuvium to my place at Tusculum. For either I must do without that estate forever (since the same grief will remain, only more concealed), or I do not see what difference it makes whether I go there now or ten years from now. That place is no greater reminder to me than the things by which I am ceaselessly worn down, both day and night. "What then?" you will say, "do books do nothing?" In this matter I am actually afraid the effect may be the opposite; for perhaps I would be harder without them. For to a cultivated mind nothing is uncouth, nothing inhuman.
[2] You, then, do as you wrote, and do not let it inconvenience you. Indeed, even two letters at a time will do. I shall come to meet you too, if it proves necessary. So manage that as best you can.
I shall overcome my feelings, I think, and go on from Lanuvium to the Tusculan villa. For either I must do without that estate forever (since the same grief will remain, only more hidden), or I do not see what difference it makes whether I go there now or ten years hence. The place itself will not remind me of my loss more than the thoughts that consume me day and night, wherever I am. You will ask whether books give me no comfort. They serve their purpose, but the wound is too deep for any remedy. I shall write to you from there.
vincam, opinor, animum et Lanuvio pergam in Tusculanum. aut enim mihi in perpetuum fundo illo carendum est (nam dolor idem manebit, tantum modo occultius) aut nescio quid intersit utrum illuc nunc veniam an ad decem annos. neque enim ista maior admonitio quam quibus adsidue conficior et dies et noctes. 'quid ergo?' inquies, 'nihil litterae?' in hac quidem re vereor ne etiam contra; nam essem fortasse durior. exculto enim animo nihil agreste, nihil inhumanum est. [2] tu igitur, ut scripsisti, nec id incommodo tuo. vel binae enim poterunt litterae. occurram etiam si necesse erit. ergo id quidem ut poteris.
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I shall master my feelings, I think, and go on from Lanuvium to my place at Tusculum. For either I must do without that estate forever (since the same grief will remain, only more concealed), or I do not see what difference it makes whether I go there now or ten years from now. That place is no greater reminder to me than the things by which I am ceaselessly worn down, both day and night. "What then?" you will say, "do books do nothing?" In this matter I am actually afraid the effect may be the opposite; for perhaps I would be harder without them. For to a cultivated mind nothing is uncouth, nothing inhuman.
[2] You, then, do as you wrote, and do not let it inconvenience you. Indeed, even two letters at a time will do. I shall come to meet you too, if it proves necessary. So manage that as best you can.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
vincam, opinor, animum et Lanuvio pergam in Tusculanum. aut enim mihi in perpetuum fundo illo carendum est (nam dolor idem manebit, tantum modo occultius) aut nescio quid intersit utrum illuc nunc veniam an ad decem annos. neque enim ista maior admonitio quam quibus adsidue conficior et dies et noctes. 'quid ergo?' inquies, 'nihil litterae?' in hac quidem re vereor ne etiam contra; nam essem fortasse durior. exculto enim animo nihil agreste, nihil inhumanum est. [2] tu igitur, ut scripsisti, nec id incommodo tuo. vel binae enim poterunt litterae. occurram etiam si necesse erit. ergo id quidem ut poteris.