Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 14

Habebat perfectum animum et ad summam sui adductum, supra quam nihil est nisi mens dei, ex quo pars et in hoc pectus mortale defluxit. Quod numquam magis divinum est, quam ubi mortalitatem suam cogitat et scit in hoc natum hominem, ut vita defungeretur, nec domum esse hoc corpus, sed hospitium, et quidem breve hospitium, quod relinquendum est, ubi te gravem esse hospiti videas.

Alors cette âme accomplie, arrivée à son plus haut point, n’a plus au-dessus d’elle que l’intelligence divine, dont une parcelle est descendue jusque dans sa mortelle enveloppe ; or jamais le divin ne domine mieux en lui que lorsque la pensée qu’il est mortel lui révèle qu’il a reçu la vie pour l’employer dignement ; que ce corps n’est point un domicile fixe, mais une hôtellerie et une hôtellerie d’un jour, qu’il faut abandonner dès qu’on se sent à charge à son hôte.

He possessed perfection of soul, developed to its highest capabilities, inferior only to the mind of God - from whom a part flows down even into this heart of a mortal. But this heart is never more divine than when it reflects upon its mortality, and understands that man was born for the purpose of fulfilling his life, and that the body is not a permanent dwelling, but a sort of inn (with a brief sojourn at that) which is to be left behind when one perceives that one is a burden to the host.