Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 14

Dicitis, inquit, omne animal primum constitutioni suae conciliari, hominis autem constitutionem rationalem esse et ideo conciliari hominem sibi non tamquam animali, sed tamquam rationali. Ea enim parte sibi carus est homo, qua homo est. Quomodo ergo infans conciliari constitutioni rationali potest, cum rationalis nondum sit? Unicuique aetati sua constitutio est, alia infanti, alia puero, alia seni; omnes ei constitutioni conciliantur in qua sunt.

« Vous dites, reprend l’adversaire, que toute créature s’harmonie d’abord à sa constitution ; que celle de l’homme étant d’être raisonnable, il s’harmonie à la sienne, non comme animal seulement, mais comme raisonnable : car l’homme se doit aimer par l’âme, qui le rend homme. » Comment donc l’enfant peut-il s’harmonier à une constitution raisonnable, lui qui n’est pas raisonnable encore ? - Tout âge a sa constitution propre :

“You maintain, do you,” says the objector, “that every living thing is at the start adapted to its constitution, but that man’s constitution is a reasoning one, and hence man is adapted to himself not merely as a living, but as a reasoning, being? For man is dear to himself in respect of that wherein he is a man. How, then, can a child, being not yet gifted with reason, adapt himself to a reasoning constitution?”