Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 2

Numquam potest deesse, quod scribam, ut omnia illa, quae Ciceronis implent epistulas, transeam: quis candidatus laboret; quis alienis, quis suis viribus pugnet; quis consulatum fiducia Caesaris, quis Pompei, quis arcae petat; quam durus sit faenerator Caecilius, a quo minoris centesimis propinqui nummum movere non possint. Sua satius est mala quam aliena tractare, se excutere et videre, quam multarum rerum candidatus sit, et non suffragari.

» Les sujets ne me manqueront jamais, dussé-je omettre tous ces détails qui remplissent les lettres de Cicéron : quel candidat périclite ; quel autre lutte par auxiliaires ou de ses seules forces ; qui, pour le consulat, se repose sur César ; qui sur Pompée, qui sur son coffre-fort ; quel âpre usurier c’est que Cécilius, dont ses proches même ne peuvent tirer un écu à moins d’un pour cent par mois. Parlons de nos misères plutôt que de celles d’autrui :

For there will always be something for me to write about, even omitting all the kinds of news with which Cicero fills his correspondence: what candidate is in difficulties, who is striving on borrowed resources and who on his own; who is a candidate for the consulship relying on Caesar, or on Pompey, or on his own strong-box; what a merciless usurer is Caecilius, out of whom his friends cannot screw a penny for less than one per cent each month. But it is preferable to deal with one’s own ills, rather than with another’s - to sift oneself and see for how many vain things one is a candidate, and cast a vote for none of them.