On Tranquillity of Mind Chapter 9

Placebit autem haec nobis mensura, si prius parsimonia placuerit, sine qua nec ullae opes sufficiunt, nec ullae non satis patent, praesertim eum in vicino remedium sit et possit ipsa paupertas in divitias se advocata frugalitate convertere. Adsuescamus a nobis removere pompam, et usus rerum, non orna- menta, metiri. Cibus famem domet, potio sitim, libido qua necesse est fluat; discamus membris nostris inniti, cultum victumque non ad nova exempla componere, sed ut maiorum mores suadent ; dis- camus continentiam augere, luxuriam coercere, gloriam temperare, iracundiam lenire, paupertatem aequis oculis aspicere, frugalitatem colere, etiam si multos pudebit, eo plus desideriis naturalibus parvo parata remedia adhibere, spes effrenatas et animum in futura imminentem velut sub vinculis habere, id agere, ut divitias a nobis potius quam a fortuna petamus. Non potest umquam tanta varietas et iniquitas casuum ita depelli, ut non multum procellarum irruat magna armamenta pandentibus. Cogendae in artum res sunt, ut tela in vanum cadant, ideoque exilia interim calamitatesque in remedium cessere et levioribus incommodis graviora sanata sunt. Ubi parum audit praecepta animus nec curari mollius potest, quidni consulatur ei, si paupertas ei, ignominia, rerum eversio adhibetur, malo malum opponitur ? Adsuescamus ergo cenare posse sine populo et servis paucioribus servire et vestes parare in quod inventae sunt et habitare contractius. Non in cursu tantum circique certamine, sed in his spatiis vitae interius fleetendum est. Studiorum quoque quae liberalissima impensa est tam diu rationem habet, quam diu modum. Quo in- numerabiles libros et bybliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit ? Onerat discentem turba, non instruit, multoque satius est paucis te auctoribus tradere, quam errare per multos. Quadraginta milia librorum Alexandriae arserunt ; pulcherrimum regiae opulentiae monimentum alius laudaverit, sicut T. Livius, qui elegantiae regum curaeque egregium id opus ait fuisse. Non fuit elegantia illud aut cura, sed studiosa luxuria, immo ne studiosa quidem, quoniam non in studium sed in spectaculum comparaverant, sicut plerisque ignaris etiam puerilium litterarum libri non studiorum instrumenta sed cenationum ornamenta sunt. Paretur itaque librorum quantum satis sit, nihil in appara- tum. " Honestius," inquis, " hoc se impensae quam in Corinthia pietasque tabulas effuderint." Vitiosum est ubique, quod nimium est. Quid habes, cur ignoscas homini armaria e citro atque ebore captanti, corpora conquirenti aut ignotorum auctorum aut improbatorum et inter tot milia librorum oscitanti, cui voluminum suorum frontes maxime placent titulique ? Apud desidiosissimos ergo videbis quicquid orationum historiarumque est, tecto tenus exstructa loculamenta ; iam enim inter balnearia et thermas bybliotheca quoque ut necessarium domus ornamentum expolitur. Ignoscerem plane, si studiorum nimia cupidine erraretur. Nunc ista conquisita, cum imaginibus suis discripta sacrorum opera ingeniorum in speciem et cultum parietum comparantur.

We shall be pleased with this measure of wealth if we have previously taken pleasure in thrift, without which no riches are sufficient, and with which none are insufficient, especially as the remedy is always at hand, and poverty itself by calling in the aid of thrift can convert itself into riches. Let us accustom ourselves to set aside mere outward show, and to measure things by their uses, not by their ornamental trappings: let our hunger be tamed by food, our thirst quenched by drinking, our lust confined within needful bounds; let us learn to use our limbs, and to arrange our dress and way of life according to what was approved of by our ancestors, not in imitation of new-fangled models: let us learn to increase our continence, to repress luxury, to set bounds to our pride, to assuage our anger, to look upon poverty without prejudice, to practise thrift, albeit many are ashamed to do so, to apply cheap remedies to the wants of nature, to keep all undisciplined hopes and aspirations as it were under lock and key, and to make it our business to get our riches from ourselves and not from Fortune. We never can so thoroughly defeat the vast diversity and malignity of misfortune with which we are threatened as not to feel the weight of many gusts if we offer a large spread of canvas to the wind: we must draw our affairs into a small compass, to make the darts of Fortune of no avail. For this reason, sometimes slight mishaps have turned into remedies, and more serious disorders have been healed by slighter ones. When the mind pays no attention to good advice, and cannot be brought to its senses by milder measures, why should we not think that its interests are being served by poverty, disgrace, or financial ruin being applied to it? one evil is balanced by another. Let us then teach ourselves to be able to dine without all Rome to look on, to be the slaves of fewer slaves, to get clothes which fulfil their original purpose, and to live in a smaller house. The inner curve is the one to take, not only in running races and in the contests of the circus, but also in the race of life; even literary pursuits, the most becoming thing for a gentleman to spend money upon, are only justifiable as long as they are kept within bounds. What is the use of possessing numberless books and libraries, whose titles their owner can hardly read through in a lifetime? A student is overwhelmed by such a mass, not instructed, and it is much better to devote yourself to a few writers than to skim through many. Forty thousand books were burned at Alexandria: some would have praised this library as a most noble memorial of royal wealth, like Titus Livius, who says that it was “a splendid result of the taste and attentive care of the kings.” It had nothing to do with taste or care, but was a piece of learned luxury, nay, not even learned, since they amassed it, not for the sake of learning, but to make a show, like many men who know less about letters than a slave is expected to know, and who uses his books not to help him in his studies but to ornament his dining-room. Let a man, then, obtain as many books as he wants, but none for show. “It is more respectable,” say you, “to spend one’s money on such books than on vases of Corinthian brass and paintings.” Not so: everything that is carried to excess is wrong. What excuses can you find for a man who is eager to buy bookcases of ivory and citrus wood, to collect the works of unknown or discredited authors, and who sits yawning amid so many thousands of books, whose backs and titles please him more than any other part of them? Thus in the houses of the laziest of men you will see the works of all the orators and historians stacked upon book-shelves reaching right up to the ceiling. At the present day a library has become as necessary an appendage to a house as a hot and cold bath. I would excuse them straightway if they really were carried away by an excessive zeal for literature; but as it is, these costly works of sacred genius, with all the illustrations that adorn them, are merely bought for display and to serve as wall-furniture.

Cette situation nous plaira, si d’abord nous avons du goût pour l’économie, sans laquelle les plus grandes richesses ne suffisent point , et avec laquelle les plus minces fournissent assez, d’autant que la ressource est à notre portée et que la pauvreté économe peut se tourner en vraie richesse. Habituons-nous à éloigner de nous le faste, et à priser dans les choses l’utilité, non l’éclat. Mangeons pour apaiser la faim, buvons pour éteindre la soif ; ne payons au plaisir charnel que le tribut nécessaire. Sachons nous servir de nos jambes, régler notre table et notre costume non sur les exemples modernes, mais comme nous y invitent les mœurs de nos pères. Sachons nous fortifier dans la continence, repousser le luxe, fuir l’intempérance, calmer notre colère, envisager de sang-froid la pauvreté, cultiver la frugalité (dussions-nous avoir quelque honte d’apaiser à peu de frais des appétits naturels), tenons comme à la chaîne nos fougueuses espérances et notre imagination élancée vers l’avenir, et faisons en sorte que nos richesses viennent de nous-mêmes plutôt que de la Fortune. Oui, il est impossible, au milieu des variables et injustes caprices du sort, que de nombreux coups de vent ne frappent pas ceux qui déploient de trop vastes agrès : réduisons nos biens à d’étroites limites, et les coups porteront à faux. Aussi a-t-on vu bien souvent des exils et des disgrâces salutaires ; et de légers malheurs en ont guéri de plus graves, quand l’homme, sourd aux sages conseils, ne comportait pas un traitement plus doux. Eh ! ne lui est-il pas utile que la pauvreté, l’ignominie, le renversement de sa position, le sauvent d’un grand mal par un moindre ? Accoutumons-nous donc à pouvoir manger sans un peuple de convives, à nous faire servir par moins de valets, à n’avoir d’habits que pour l’usage qui les fit inventer, à être logés moins au large. Ce n’est pas seulement aux courses et aux luttes du cirque, c’est dans la carrière de la vie qu’il faut apprendre à tourner court. Même les dépenses pour les études, les plus nobles de toutes, ne me paraissent raisonnables que si elles sont modérées. Que me font ces immenses quantités de livres, et ces bibliothèques dont le maître en toute sa vie peut à peine lire les titres ? Cette masse d’écrits surcharge plutôt qu’elle n’instruit ; et il vaut bien mieux t’adonner à un petit nombre d’auteurs que d’en effleurer des milliers. Quatre cent mille volumes furent brûlés à Alexandrie ; superbe monument d’opulence royale ! répéteront des enthousiastes, après Tite Live, qui appelle cela l’œuvre de la magnificence et de la sollicitude des rois. Il n’y eut là ni magnificence ni sollicitude ; il y eut faste littéraire, que dis-je, littéraire ? ce n’est pas pour les lettres, c’est pour la montre qu’on fit ces collections ; ainsi, chez le grand nombre, chez des gens qui n’ont même pas l’instruction d’un esclave, les livres, au lieu d’être des moyens d’étude, ne font que parer des salles de festin. Achetons des livres pour le besoin seulement, jamais pour l’étalage. « Mais je dépense plus honorablement de cette manière qu’en vases de Corinthe et en tableaux ! » C’est un vice en tout que l’excès. Y a-t -il à excuser l’homme qui agence le citre et l’ivoire en bibliothèque, qui va cherchant partout les œuvres bien complètes de tel auteur inconnu ou méprisé, et devant ses milliers de volumes, bâille, admirant par-dessus tout les tranches et les titres ? Aussi est-ce chez les moins studieux que tu verras tout ce qu’il y a d’orateurs et d’historiens et des cases superposées du plancher au plafond ; jusque dans les bains et les thermes, on a sa bibliothèque d’un poli parfait, comme indispensable ornement de maison. Je pardonnerais volontiers cette manie, si elle provenait d’un excès d’amour pour l’étude ; mais ces recueils précieux, mais, avec leurs portraits, les écrits de ces divins génies s’achètent pour le coup d’œil, ils vont décorer des murailles .