Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 8

Quomodo, inquis, exibo? Utcumque. Cogita, quam multa temere pro pecunia, quam multa laboriose pro honore temptaveris; aliquid et pro otio audendum est, aut in ista sollicitudine procurationum et deinde urbanorum officiorum senescendum in tumultu ac semper novis fluctibus, quos effugere nulla modestia, nulla vitae quiete contigit. Quid enim ad rem pertinet, an tu quiescere velis? Fortuna tua non vult. Quid si illi etiam nunc permiseris crescere? Quantum ad successus accesserit, accedet ad metus.

« Comment sortir de cette position ? » Comme tu pourras. Songe combien de hasards l’argent, combien de travaux les honneurs t’auront fait braver ; ose enfin quelque chose pour le repos ; sinon, condamné aux soucis des gouvernements de provinces, puis des magistratures urbaines, tu vieilliras dans le tracas, dans des tourmentes toujours nouvelles ; il n’est réserve ni douceur de mœurs assez heureuses pour y échapper. Qu’importe en effet que tu veuilles le repos ? Ta fortune ne le veut pas. Et si tu lui permets de grandir encore ? À quelques progrès qu’elle s’élève, il y aura progrès dans ta crainte.

“But,” you say, “how can I take my leave?” Any way you please. Reflect how many hazards you have ventured for the sake of money, and how much toil you have undertaken for a title! You must dare something to gain leisure, also, - or else grow old amid the worries of procuratorships abroad and subsequently of civil duties at home, living in turmoil and in ever fresh floods of responsibilities, which no man has ever succeeded in avoiding by unobtrusiveness or by seclusion of life. For what bearing on the case has your personal desire for a secluded life? Your position in the world desires the opposite! What if, even now, you allow that position to grow greater? But all that is added to your successes will be added to your fears.