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Seneca

Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 21

Section 979 of 2,141

Canonical reference 76.21

Latin

Perseus canonical Latin TEI

Sequitur, ut quae ab inconsultis saepe contemnuntur, a sapientibus semper, ea nec bona sint nec mala. Unum ergo bonum ipsa virtus est, quae inter hanc fortunam et illam superba incedit cum magno utriusque contemptu.

French

Baillard 1914

Il s’ensuit que des choses méprisées souvent par des gens sans lumières, toujours par le sage, ne sont ni des biens ni des maux ; et que l’unique bien, c’est cette même vertu qui marche tête haute entre l’une et l’autre fortune avec grand mépris pour toutes deux.

English

Richard M. Gummere · Moral Letters to Lucilius

It follows that the things which are often scorned by the men who are moved with a sudden passion, and are always scorned by the wise, are neither goods nor evils. Virtue itself is therefore the only good; she marches proudly between the two extremes of fortune, with great scorn for both.

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