Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 2

Erras, Lucili; ex hac vita ad illam adscenditur. Quod interest inter splendorem et lucem, cum haec certam originem habeat ac suam ille niteat alieno, hoc inter hanc vitam et illam; haec fulgore extrinsecus veniente percussa est, crassam illi statim umbram faciet quisquis obstiterit; illa suo lumine inlustris est. Studia te tua clarum et nobilem efficient.

de ta vie à la vie du sage on ne peut que monter. Comme la lumière se distingue de ses reflets, car elle émane d’un foyer certain qui lui est propre, et ceux-ci ont un éclat d’emprunt ; ainsi la vie dont je parle diffère de la tienne. Ce qui brille en la tienne, c’est du dehors qu’elle l’a reçu ; la moindre interposition l’éclipse et l’obscurcit soudain : la vie du sage resplendit de ses seuls rayons. De tes études en sagesse viendra ton vrai lustre, ton anoblissement.

This is a mistake, Lucilius; to go from your present life into the other is a promotion. There is the same difference between these two lives as there is between mere brightness and real light; the latter has a definite source within itself, the other borrows its radiance; the one is called forth by an illumination coming from the outside, and anyone who stands between the source and the object immediately turns the latter into a dense shadow; but the other has a glow that comes from within. It is your own studies that will make you shine and will render you eminent. Allow me to mention the case of Epicurus.