Paradoxes des stoïciens Passage 2

quod eo maius est illi quam aut tibi aut nobis, quia nos ea philosophia plus utimur, quae peperit dicendi copiam et in qua dicuntur ea, quae non multum discrepent ab opinione populari, Cato autem, perfectus mea sententia Stoicus, et ea sentit, quae non sane probantur in volgus, et in ea est haeresi, quae nullum sequitur florem orationis neque dilatat argumentum: minutis interrogatiunculis quasi punctis quod proposuit efficit.

and this is a greater accomplishment for him than for either you or me, because we make greater use of that philosophy which has produced an abundance of eloquence and in which statements are made that do not differ greatly from popular opinion. Cato, however, a perfect Stoic in my judgment, both holds views that certainly do not win general approval and belongs to a school that pursues no ornament of speech and does not amplify an argument. By means of tiny questions, like points, it establishes what it has proposed.

Son mérite est en cela plus grand que le tien ou le mien. Nous pratiquons davantage, en effet, cette philosophie qui a engendré l’abondance oratoire et dans laquelle sont énoncées des idées qui ne s’écartent pas beaucoup de l’opinion commune. Caton, au contraire, stoïcien accompli à mon avis, professe des doctrines qui ne rencontrent guère l’approbation du vulgaire et appartient à une école qui ne recherche aucune fleur du discours et ne développe pas l’argumentation : par de menues interrogations, pareilles à autant de points, elle établit ce qu’elle a proposé.