Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 25

Quid, inquam, in istis est tam formidabile quam fama vulgavit? Quid est, obsecro te, Lucili, cur timeat laborem vir, mortem homo? Totiens mihi occurrunt isti, qui non putant fieri posse quicquid facere non possunt, et aiunt nos loqui maiora quam quae humana natura sustineat.

Qu’y a-t-il, je te prie, Lucilius, pour qu’un homme de cœur craigne la souffrance, un mortel la mort ?

Je ne vois que gens qui réputent impossible ce qu’ils n’ont pu faire ;

And in these visions what is there, I say, as fear-inspiring as rumour has proclaimed? Why, pray, my dear Lucilius, should a man fear toil, or a mortal death? Countless cases occur to my mind of men who think that what they themselves are unable to do is impossible, who maintain that we utter words which are too big for man’s nature to carry out.