Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 9

Miramur parietes tenui marmore inductos, cum sciamus, quale sit quod absconditur. Oculis nostris inponimus, et cum auro tecta perfudimus, quid aliud quam mendacio gaudemus? Scimus enim sub illo auro foeda ligna latitare. Nec tantum parietibus aut lacunaribus ornamentum tenue praetenditur; omnium istorum, quos incedere altos vides, bratteata felicitas est. Inspice, et scies, sub ista tenui membrana dignitatis quantum mali iaceat.

Nous admirons des murs plaqués de feuilles de marbre, quoique nous sachions quels vils matériaux elles cachent ; nous en imposons à nos yeux. Et revêtir d’or nos lambris, qu’est-ce autre chose que nous délecter d’un mensonge ? Car nous n’ignorons pas que cet or recouvre un bois grossier. Mais n’y a-t-il que nos murs et nos lambris qu’une mince décoration déguise extérieurement ? Tous ces gens que tu vois s’avancer tête haute n’ont que le vernis du bonheur. Examine bien, et sous cette légère écorce de dignité tu sauras combien il se loge de misères.

we admire walls veneered with a thin layer of marble, although we know the while what defects the marble conceals. We cheat our own eyesight, and when we have overlaid our ceilings with gold, what else is it but a lie in which we take such delight? For we know that beneath all this gilding there lurks some ugly wood. Nor is such superficial decoration spread merely over walls and ceilings; nay, all the famous men whom you see strutting about with head in air, have nothing but a gold-leaf prosperity. Look beneath, and you will know how much evil lies under that thin coating of titles.