Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 7

ergo et bona, primum quia contraria istis sunt, deinde quia eadem tibi indicia praestabunt. An non vides, quantum oculis det vigorem fortitudo? Quantam intentionem prudentia? Quantam modestiam et quietem reverentia? Quantam serenitatem laetitia? Quantum rigorem severitas? Quantam remissionem lenitas? Corpora ergo sunt, quae colorem habitumque corporum mutant, quae in illis regnum suum exercent. Omnes autem, quas rettuli, virtutes bona sunt, et quicquid ex illis est.

Il en sera de même des biens, d’abord par la raison des contraires, ensuite parce qu’ils t’offrent les mêmes indices. Ne vois-tu pas quelle vivacité donne aux yeux le courage ; quelle force d’attention, la prudence ; quelle modestie paisible, le respect ; quelle sérénité, la joie ; quel air rigide, la sévérité ; quelle aisance calme, la franchise ? Il faut donc que ce qui change la couleur des corps et leur manière d’être, que ce qui exerce sur eux tant d’empire soit corps aussi. Or toutes les vertus susdites sont des biens, comme tout ce qui vient d’elles.

and so also are goods, first because they are opposite poles of the bad, and second because they will manifest to you the same symptoms. Do you not see how a spirit of bravery makes the eye flash? How prudence tends towards concentration? How reverence produces moderation and tranquillity? How joy produces calm? How sternness begets stiffness? How gentleness produces relaxation? These qualities are therefore bodily; for they change the tones and the shapes of substances, exercising their own power in their own kingdoms. Now all the virtues which I have mentioned are goods, and so are their results.