Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 1

Quis dubitare, mi Lucili, potest, quin deorum immortalium munus sit quod vivimus, philosophiae quod bene vivimus? Itaque tanto plus huic nos debere quam dis, quanto maius beneficium est bona vita quam vita, pro certo haberetur, nisi ipsam philosophiam di tribuissent. Cuius scientiam nulli dederunt, facultatem omnibus.

Nul n’en peut douter, Lucilius : c’est aux dieux immortels que nous avons l’obligation de vivre, et bien vivre est un don de la philosophie. Nous lui devrons donc à elle plus qu’aux dieux, en proportion de la supériorité du bienfait ; puisqu’une bonne vie l’emporte sur la vie elle-même.

Who can doubt, my dear Lucilius, that life is the gift of the immortal gods, but that living well is the gift of philosophy? Hence the idea that our debt to philosophy is greater than our debt to the gods, in proportion as a good life is more of a benefit than mere life, would be regarded as correct, were not philosophy itself a boon which the gods have bestowed upon us. They have given the knowledge thereof to none, but the faculty of acquiring it they have given to all.