Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 60

Praeterea non intellegunt hi, qui decreta tollunt, eo ipso confirmari illa, quo tolluntur. Quid enim dicunt? Praeceptis vitam satis explicari, supervacua esse decreta sapientiae, id est dogmata. Atqui hoc ipsum, quod dicunt, decretum est tam me hercules quam si nunc ego dicerem recedendum a praeceptis velut supervacuis, utendum esse decretis, in haec sola studium conferendum; hoc ipso, quo negarem curanda esse praecepta, praeciperem.

greffe-les sur un corps de doctrines.

Et puis, ceux qui suppriment les principes généraux ne s’aperçoivent pas qu’ils les confirment par cela même. Car que disent-ils ? que les préceptes suffisent au système entier de la vie ; qu’on n’a que faire des principes généraux de la sagesse, c’est-à-dire des dogmes. Or, ce qu’ils disent là, est aussi un principe général, tel assurément que j’en établirais un si je disais qu’il faut laisser là les préceptes comme superflus, s’en tenir aux principes généraux et en faire son étude exclusive : cette défense même de s’occuper des préceptes serait un précepte encore.

Moreover, those who do away with doctrines do not understand that these doctrines are proved by the very arguments through which they seem to disprove them. For what are these men saying? They are saying that precepts are sufficient to develop life, and that the doctrines of wisdom (in other words, dogmas) are superfluous. And yet this very utterance of theirs is a doctrine just as if I should now remark that one must dispense with precepts on the ground that they are superfluous, that one must make use of doctrines, and that our studies should be directed solely towards this end; thus, by my very statement that precepts should not be taken seriously, I should be uttering a precept.