Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 12

Ita dico, Lucili, et te in caelum compendiario voco. Solebat Sextius dicere Iovem plus non posse quam bonum virum. Plura Iuppiter habet, quae praestet hominibus, sed inter duos bonos non est melior, qui locupletior, non magis quam inter duos, quibus par scientia regendi gubernaculum est, meliorem dixeris, cui maius speciosiusque navigium est.

et je t’invite à monter au ciel par un bien court chemin. « Jupiter, disait souvent Sextius, n’est pas plus puissant que l’homme de bien. » Jupiter a plus à donner aux mortels ; mais de deux sages le meilleur n’est pas le plus riche, comme entre deux pilotes également habiles tu ne donneras point la palme à celui du navire le plus grand et le plus magnifique.

Yes, that is what I mean, Lucilius; and I invite you to heaven by a short cut. Sextius used to say that Jupiter had no more power than the good man. Of course, Jupiter has more gifts which he can offer to mankind; but when you are choosing between two good men, the richer is not necessarily the better, any more than, in the case of two pilots of equal skill in managing the tiller, you would call him the better whose ship is larger and more imposing.