Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 66

Haec res eandem vim habet quam praecipere. Nam qui praecipit, dicit: illa facies, si voles temperans esse. Qui describit, ait: temperans est, qui illa facit, qui illis abstinet. Quaeris, quid intersit? Alter praecepta virtutis dat, alter exemplar. Descriptiones has et, ut publicanorum utar verbo, iconismos ex usu esse confiteor; proponamus laudanda, invenietur imitator.

Ce procédé a la même portée que les préceptes. Le précepte dit : « Tu feras telle chose si tu veux être tempérant. » La définition : « Être tempérant ; c’est faire telle chose et s’abstenir de telle autre. » Où est la différence ? L’un donne les préceptes de la vertu, et l’autre le modèle.

Its function is the same as that of precept. For he who utters precepts says: “If you would have self-control, act thus and so!” He who illustrates, says “The man who acts thus and so, and refrains from certain other things, possesses self-control.” If you ask what the difference here is, I say that the one gives the precepts of virtue, the other its embodiment. These illustrations, or, to use a commercial term, these samples, have, I confess, a certain utility; just put them up for exhibition well recommended, and you will find men to copy them.