Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 2

Varius nobis fuit sermo, ut in convivio, nullam rem usque ad exitum adducens, sed aliunde alio transiliens. Lectus est deinde liber Quinti Sextii patris, magni, si quid mihi credis, viri et, licet neget, Stoici.

La conversation fut variée, comme est celle d’un repas, sans mener à fin aucun sujet, mais sautant d’une chose à une autre. On lut ensuite un ouvrage de Q. Sextius le père, homme supérieur, si tu m’en crois, et, bien qu’il le nie, stoïcien. Bons Dieux ! que de vigueur, que d’âme !

Our talk ran on various themes, as is natural at a dinner; it pursued no chain of thought to the end, but jumped from one topic to another. We then had read to us a book by Quintus Sextius the Elder. He is a great man, if you have any confidence in my opinion, and a real Stoic, though he himself denies it.