Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 12

Quaeris, quare virtus nullo egeat? Praesentibus gaudet, non concupiscit absentia. Nihil non illi magnum est, quod satis. Ab hoc discede iudicio; non pietas constabit, non fides. Multa enim utramque praestare cupienti patienda sunt ex iis, quae mala vocantur; multa inpendenda ex iis, quibus indulgemus tamquam bonis.

« Tu demandes pourquoi la vertu n’a faute de quoi que ce soit ! » Parce que, heureuse de ce qu’elle a, elle n’ambitionne pas ce qui est loin d’elle : tout lui est assez grand, car tout lui suffit. Qu’on s’écarte de ce système, plus de foi, ni de dévouement. Pour déployer ces deux vertus il faut supporter beaucoup de ce qu’on appelle maux, sacrifier beaucoup de ce qu’on affectionne comme biens.

Do you ask why virtue needs nothing? Because it is pleased with what it has, and does not lust after that which it has not. Whatever is enough is abundant in the eyes of virtue. Dissent from this judgment, and duty and loyalty will not abide. For one who desires to exhibit these two qualities must endure much that the world calls evil; we must sacrifice many things to which we are addicted, thinking them to be goods.