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Seneca

Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 10

Section 701 of 2,141

Canonical reference 64.10

Latin

Perseus canonical Latin TEI

Si consulem videro aut praetorem, omnia, quibus honor haberi honori solet, faciam; equo desiliam, caput adaperiam, semita cedam. Quid ergo? Marcum Catonem utrumque et Laelium Sapientem et Socraten cum Platone et Zenonem Cleanthenque in animum meum sine dignatione summa recipiam? Ego vero illos veneror et tantis nominibus semper adsurgo. Vale.

French

Baillard 1914

Si je rencontre un consul ou un préteur, je leur rends tout l’honneur dû à d’honorables personnages, je descends de cheval, je me découvre la tête, je cède le passage ; et les deux Catons, et le sage Lélius et Socrate avec Platon, et Zénon et Cléanthe, je les recevrais dans mon âme sans offrir un digne hommage à tant de mérites ! Non, je les salue de tous mes respects ; je me lève toujours devant ces grands noms.

English

Richard M. Gummere · Moral Letters to Lucilius

If I meet a consul or a praetor, I shall pay him all the honour which his post of honour is wont to receive: I shall dismount, uncover, and yield the road. What, then? Shall I admit into my soul with less than the highest marks of respect Marcus Cato, the Elder and the Younger, Laelius the Wise, Socrates and Plato, Zeno and Cleanthes? I worship them in very truth, and always rise to do honour to such noble names. Farewell.

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