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Seneca

Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 17

Section 1,714 of 2,141

Canonical reference 102.17

Latin

Perseus canonical Latin TEI

Fama vocem utique desiderat, claritas potest etiam citra vocem contingere contenta iudicio. Plena est non tantum inter tacentis, sed etiam inter reclamantis. Quid intersit inter claritatem et gloriam dicam: gloria multorum iudiciis constat, claritas bonorum. Cuius, inquit, bonum est claritas, id est laus bono a bonis reddita?

French

Baillard 1914

La renommée veut, elle exige une voix ; l’illustration s’en passe : elle peut s’obtenir sans cela, se contenter de l’opinion ; elle est complète en dépit même du silence, en dépit des oppositions. En quoi l’illustration diffère-t-elle de la gloire ? En ce que la gloire est le suffrage de la foule ;

English

Richard M. Gummere · Moral Letters to Lucilius

Reputation necessarily demands words, but renown can be content with men’s judgments, and suffice without the spoken word. It is satisfied not only amid silent approval, but even in the face of open protest. There is, in my opinion, this difference between renown and glory - the latter depends upon the judgments of the many; but renown on the judgments of good men.

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