Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 32

Hoc laboramus errore, sic nobis imponitur, quod neminem aestimamus eo, quod est, sed adicimus illi et ea, quibus adornatus est. Atqui cum voles veram hominis aestimationem inire et scire, qualis sit, nudum inspice; ponat patrimonium, ponat honores et alia fortunae mendacia, corpus ipsum exuat. Animum intuere, qualis quantusque sit, alieno an suo magnus.

L’erreur dont nous souffrons, qui nous fascine, c’est que nous ne prisons jamais l’homme pour ce qu’il est ; nous ajoutons à la personne son entourage. Et pourtant, si l’on veut rechercher son vrai prix et savoir quel il est, c’est à nu qu’il faut l’examiner. Qu’il dépose devant toi ce patrimoine, ces honneurs et tous ces autres mensonges de la Fortune ; dépouille-le même de son corps, n’envisage que son âme, ce qu’elle est, tout ce qu’elle est, si sa grandeur est personnelle ou d’emprunt.

This is the error under which we labour; this is the reason why we are imposed upon: we value no man at what he is, but add to the man himself the trappings in which he is clothed. But when you wish to inquire into a man’s true worth, and to know what manner of man he is, look at him when he is naked; make him lay aside his inherited estate, his titles, and the other deceptions of fortune; let him even strip off his body. Consider his soul, its quality and its stature, and thus learn whether its greatness is borrowed, or its own.