Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 8

Propositum est adgredi illum et ostendere, quanto pluris fuerit, quom multis minoris videretur. Vitia eius etiam si non excidero, inhibebo; non desinent, sed intermittent. Fortasse autem et desinent, si intermittendi consuetudinem fecerint. Non est hoc ipsum fastidiendum, quoniam quidem graviter adfectis sanitatis loco est bona remissio.

Je me suis proposé d’entreprendre Marcellinus et de lui faire voir qu’il valait beaucoup mieux, quand bien des gens l’estimaient moins. Si je n’extirpe point ses vices, j’arrêterai leurs progrès ; ils ne cesseront pas, mais auront leurs intermittences ; peut-être même cesseront-ils, si ces intermittences passent en habitude. Ce résultat n’est pas à dédaigner, car aux affections graves d’heureux moments de relâche tiennent lieu de santé.

It is my plan to approach him and to show him how much greater was his worth when many thought it less. Even though I shall not root out his faults, I shall put a check upon them; they will not cease, but they will stop for a time; and perhaps they will even cease, if they get the habit of stopping. This is a thing not to be despised, since to men who are seriously stricken the blessing of relief is a substitute for health.