Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 6

Citius mori aut tardius ad rem non pertinet, bene mori aut male ad rem pertinet. Bene autem mori est effugere male vivendi periculum. Itaque effeminatissimam vocem illius Rhodii existimo, qui cum in caveam coniectus esset a tyranno et tamquam ferum aliquod animal aleretur, suadenti cuidam, ut abstineret cibo: omnia, inquit, homini, dum vivit, speranda sunt.

Mourir plus tôt ou plus tard est indifférent ; bien ou mal mourir ne l’est pas. Or, bien mourir, c’est nous soustraire au danger de mal vivre. Aussi regardé-je comme des plus pusillanimes le mot de ce Rhodien qui, jeté par un tyran dans une fosse et nourri là comme une bête sauvage, dit à quelqu’un qui lui conseillait de se laisser mourir de faim : « Tant que la vie lui reste, l’homme peut tout espérer.

It is not a question of dying earlier or later, but of dying well or ill. And dying well means escape from the danger of living ill. That is why I regard the words of the well-known Rhodian as most unmanly. This person was thrown into a cage by his tyrant, and fed there like some wild animal. And when a certain man advised him to end his life by fasting, he replied: “A man may hope for anything while he has life.”