EPISTLE LXVIII.
falling back upon the maxims of Epicurus!"[1] I do recommend retirement to you, but only that you may use it for greater and more beautiful activities than those which you have resigned; to knock at the haughty doors of the influential, to make alphabetical lists of childless old men,[2] to wield the highest authority in public life,—this kind of power exposes you to hatred, is short-lived, and, if you rate it at its true value, is tawdry. 11. One man shall be far ahead of me as regards his influence in public life, another in salary as an army officer and in the position which results from this, another in the throng of his clients; but it is worth while to be outdone by all these men, provided that I myself can outdo Fortune. And I am no match for her in the throng; she has the greater backing.[3]
12. Would that in earlier days you had been minded to follow this purpose! Would that we were not discussing the happy life in plain view of death! But even now let us have no delay. For now we can take the word of experience, which tells us that there are many superfluous and hostile things; for this we should long since have taken the word of reason. 13. Let us do what men are wont to do when they are late in setting forth, and wish to make up for lost time by increasing their speed—let us ply the spur. Our time of life is the best possible for these pursuits; for the period of boiling and foaming is now past.[4] The faults that were uncontrolled in the first fierce heat of youth are now weakened, and but little further effort is needed to extinguish them.
14. “And when,” you ask, “will that profit you which you do not learn until your departure, and how will it profit you?” Precisely in this way, that I shall depart a better man. You need not think,
- ↑ This is a reference to the saying of Epicurus, λαθὲ βιώσας, “live in retirement.”
- ↑ Cf. Horace, Sat. ii. 5. 23 ff.: captes astutus ubique senum and vivet uter locuples sine gnatis . . . illius esto defensor. The captator was a well-known figure at Rome; cf. also Pliny’s notorious enemy Regulus, and Juvenal’s many words of scorn for those who practised the art.
- ↑ i.e., Fortune’s support comes from crowds.
- ↑ Cf. De Ira, ii. 20 ut nimius ille fervor despumet.
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