Letter 39

[1] The notebooks you ask for, carefully arranged and compressed into a small compass, I will indeed put together for you; but consider whether the standard method may not prove more useful than this one, which nowadays is commonly called a breviarium, though in earlier days, when we still spoke proper Latin, it was called a summarium. The former is more necessary for the person who is learning, the latter for the one who already knows; for the one teaches, the other merely reminds. But I will furnish you with an ample supply of both. There is no reason for you to demand of me this authority or that: a man who supplies a guarantor for his statements is himself unknown. [2] I will write, then, what you wish, but in my own way; in the meantime you have many authors whose writings, I rather think, are sufficiently well ordered. Take up the index of philosophers: this very act will compel you to rouse yourself, when you see how many men have labored on your behalf. You too will come to desire to be one of them; for the noblest quality a generous mind possesses is this, that it is stirred to honorable things. No man of lofty character takes pleasure in what is low and base: the vision of great matters calls him toward itself and lifts him up. [3] Just as a flame rises straight upward and cannot be made to lie low or be pressed down, any more than it can stay at rest, so our mind is in motion, the more restless and active the more vehement it is. But happy is the man who has given this energy a direction toward better things: he will set himself beyond the law and dominion of Fortune; he will temper prosperity, break the force of adversity, and look down on what others marvel at. [4] It is the mark of a great mind to despise great things and to prefer the moderate to the excessive; for the moderate is useful and life-sustaining, whereas the excessive does harm precisely because it overflows. So too rich a fertility flattens the standing crop; so branches are broken by their burden; so an over-abundant yield never reaches ripeness. The same thing happens to minds as well, which are ruined by unrestrained good fortune, a fortune they employ not only to injure others but even to injure themselves. [5] What enemy was ever so insolent toward anyone as their own pleasures are toward certain men? For their lack of self-control and their insane lust you might pardon them on this one ground, that they suffer the very things they have inflicted. Nor does this madness harass them undeservedly; for desire that leaps beyond the natural measure must necessarily run off into the boundless. For nature has its own limit, but empty cravings, born of lust, have no end. [6] Utility measures what is necessary: but to what standard do you reduce the superfluous? And so men plunge themselves into pleasures which, once they have become a habit, they cannot do without, and for this reason they are most wretched, because they have reached the point where the things that had been superfluous have become necessary to them. They are therefore the slaves of their pleasures, not the enjoyers of them, and—worst of all evils—they even love their own ills; and then their unhappiness is complete, when shameful things not only delight but actually please, and there is no longer any room left for a remedy, once what had been vices have become character. Farewell.

I shall indeed arrange for you, in careful order and narrow compass, the notes which you request. But consider whether you may not get more help from the customary method than from that which is now commonly called a “breviary,” though in the good old days, when real Latin was spoken, it was called a “summary.” The former is more necessary to one who is learning a subject, the latter to one who knows it. For the one teaches, the other stirs the memory. But I shall give you abundant opportunity for both. A man like you should not ask me for this authority or that; he who furnishes a voucher for his statements argues himself unknown. I shall therefore write exactly what you wish, but I shall do it in my own way; until then, you have many authors whose works will presumably keep your ideas sufficiently in order. Pick up the list of the philosophers; that very act will compel you to wake up, when you see how many men have been working for your benefit. You will desire eagerly to be one of them yourself. For this is the most excellent quality that the noble soul has within itself, that it can be roused to honourable things. No man of exalted gifts is pleased with that which is low and mean; the vision of great achievement summons him and uplifts him. Just as the flame springs straight into the air and cannot be cabined or kept down any more than it can repose in quiet, so our soul is always in motion, and the more ardent it is, the greater its motion and activity. But happy is the man who has given it this impulse toward better things! He will place himself beyond the jurisdiction of chance; he will wisely control prosperity; he will lessen adversity, and will despise what others hold in admiration. It is the quality of a great soul to scorn great things and to prefer that which is ordinary rather than that which is too great. For the one condition is useful and life-giving; but the other does harm just because it is excessive. Similarly, too rich a soil makes the grain fall flat, branches break down under too heavy a load, excessive productiveness does not bring fruit to ripeness. This is the case with the soul also; for it is ruined by uncontrolled prosperity, which is used not only to the detriment of others, but also to the detriment of itself. What enemy was ever so insolent to any opponent as are their pleasures to certain men? The only excuse that we can allow for the incontinence and mad lust of these men is the fact that they suffer the evils which they have inflicted upon others. And they are rightly harassed by this madness, because desire must have unbounded space for its excursions, if it transgresses nature’s mean. For this has its bounds, but waywardness and the acts that spring from wilful lust are without boundaries. Utility measures our needs; but by what standard can you check the superfluous? It is for this reason that men sink themselves in pleasures, and they cannot do without them when once they have become accustomed to them, and for this reason they are most wretched, because they have reached such a pass that what was once superfluous to them has become indispensable. And so they are the slaves of their pleasures instead of enjoying them; they even love their own ills,—and that is the worst ill of all! Then it is that the height of unhappiness is reached, when men are not only attracted, but even pleased, by shameful things, and when there is no longer any room for a cure, now that those things which once were vices have become habits. Farewell.

[1] Commentarios quos desideras, diligenter ordinatos et in angustum coactos, ego vero componam; sed vide ne plus profutura sit ratio ordinaria quam haec quae nunc vulgo breviarium dicitur, olim cum latine loqueremur summarium vocabatur. Illa res discenti magis necessaria est, haec scienti; illa enim docet, haec admonet. Sed utriusque rei tibi copiam faciam. Tu a me non est quod illum aut illum exigas: qui notorem dat ignotus est. [2] Scribam ergo quod vis, sed meo more; interim multos habes quorum scripta nescio an satis ordinentur. Sume in manus indicem philosophorum: haec ipsa res expergisci te coget, si videris quam multi tibi laboraverint. Concupisces et ipse ex illis unus esse; habet enim hoc optimum in se generosus animus, quod concitatur ad honesta. Neminem excelsi ingenii virum humilia delectant et sordida: magnarum rerum species ad se vocat et extollit. [3] Quemadmodum flamma surgit in rectum, iacere ac deprimi non potest, non magis quam quiescere, ita noster animus in motu est, eo mobilior et actuosior quo vehementior fuerit. Sed felix qui ad meliora hunc impetum dedit: ponet se extra ius dicionemque fortunae; secunda temperabit, adversa comminuet et aliis admiranda despiciet. [4] Magni animi est magna contemnere ac mediocria malle quam nimia; illa enim utilia vitaliaque sunt, at haec eo quod superfluunt nocent. Sic segetem nimia sternit ubertas, sic rami onere franguntur, sic ad maturitatem non pervenit nimia fecunditas. Idem animis quoque evenit quos immoderata felicitas rumpit, qua non tantum in aliorum iniuriam sed etiam in suam utuntur. [5] Qui hostis in quemquam tam contumeliosus fuit quam in quosdam voluptates suae sunt? quorum impotentiae atque insanae libidini ob hoc unum possis ignoscere, quod quae fecere patiuntur. Nec immerito hic illos furor vexat; necesse est enim in immensum exeat cupiditas quae naturalem modum transilit. Ille enim habet suum finem, inania et ex libidine orta sine termino sunt. [6] Necessaria metitur utilitas: supervacua quo redigis? Voluptatibus itaque se mergunt quibus in consuetudinem adductis carere non possunt, et ob hoc miserrimi sunt, quod eo pervenerunt ut illis quae supervacua fuerant facta sint necessaria. Serviunt itaque voluptatibus, non fruuntur, et mala sua, quod malorum ultimum est, et amant; tunc autem est consummata infelicitas, ubi turpia non solum delectant sed etiam placent, et desinit esse remedio locus ubi quae fuerant vitia mores sunt. Vale.