Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 8

Quid ergo huic meditandum est? Quod adversus omnia tela, quod adversus omne hostium genus bene facit, mortem contemnere, quae quin habeat aliquid in se terribile, ut et animos nostros, quos in amorem sui natura formavit, offendat, nemo dubitat; nec enim opus esset in id comparari et acui, in quod instinctu quodam voluntario iremus, sicut feruntur omnes ad conservationem sui.

Quel sera donc l’objet de son étude ? Ce qui est de bon usage contre toute espèce d’armes et d’ennemis : le mépris de la mort. Que la mort ait en elle quelque chose de terrible, qui effarouche cet amour de soi que la nature a mis dans nos âmes, nul n’en doute ;

To what, then, shall this friend of yours devote his attention? I say, let him learn that which is helpful against all weapons, against every kind of foe, - contempt of death; because no one doubts that death has in it something that inspires terror, so that it shocks even our souls, which nature has so moulded that they love their own existence; for otherwise there would be no need to prepare ourselves, and to whet our courage, to face that towards which we should move with a sort of voluntary instinct, precisely as all men tend to preserve their existence.