Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 8

Omnia suo bono constant. Vitem fertilitas commendat et sapor vini, velocitas cervum. Quam fortia dorso iumenta sint quaeris, quorum hic unus est usus, sarcinam ferre. In cane sagacitas prima est, si investigare debet feras, cursus, si consequi, audacia, si mordere et invadere. Id in quoque optimum esse debet, cui nascitur, quo censetur.

la vigne se recommande par sa fertilité et par la saveur de son vin, le cerf par sa vitesse. Veux-tu savoir pourquoi la force des bêtes de somme est dans les reins ? Parce qu’elles ne sont bonnes qu’à porter des fardeaux. La première qualité dans un chien est la finesse de l’odorat, s’il doit aller en quête du gibier ; l’agilité, s’il doit le poursuivre ; la hardiesse, s’il est fait pour mordre et attaquer.

Everything is estimated by the standard of its own good. The vine is valued for its productiveness and the flavour of its wine, the stag for his speed. We ask, with regard to beasts of burden, how sturdy of back they are; for their only use is to bear burdens. If a dog is to find the trail of a wild beast, keenness of scent is of first importance; if to catch his quarry, swiftness of foot; if to attack and harry it, courage. In each thing that quality should be best for which the thing is brought into being and by which it is judged.