EPISTLE LXXV.
I prefer, however, that our conversation on matters so important should not be meagre and dry; for even philosophy does not renounce the company of cleverness. One should not, however, bestow very much attention upon mere words. 4. Let this be the kernel of my idea: let us say what we feel, and feel what we say; let speech harmonize with life.[1] That man has fulfilled his promise who is the same person both when you see him and when you hear him. 5. We shall not fail to see what sort of man he is and how large a man he is, if only he is one and the same. Our words should aim not to please, but to help. If, however, you can attain eloquence without painstaking, and if you either are naturally gifted or can gain eloquence at slight cost, make the most of it and apply it to the noblest uses. But let it be of such a kind that it displays facts rather than itself. It and the other arts are wholly concerned with cleverness;[2] but our business here is the soul.
6. A sick man does not call in a physician who is eloquent; but if it so happens that the physician who can cure him likewise discourses elegantly about the treatment which is to be followed, the patient will take it in good part. For all that, he will not find any reason to congratulate himself on having discovered a physician who is eloquent. For the case is no different from that of a skilled pilot who is also handsome. 7. Why do you tickle my ears? Why do you entertain me? There is other business at hand; I am to be cauterized, operated upon, or put on a diet. That is why you were summoned to treat me!
You are required to cure a disease that is chronic and serious,—one which affects the general weal. You have as serious a business on hand as a physician
- ↑ Cf. Ep. cxiv. 1 talis hominibus fuit oratio qualis vita, and passim in Epp. xl., lxxv. and cxiv.
- ↑ Eloquence and other arts please mainly by their cleverness; nor does philosophy abjure such cleverness as style; but here in these letters, wherein we are discussing the soul, the graces of speech are of no concern.
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