Lettres à Lucilius Section 9

At si forte in manus hostium incideris, victor te duci iubebit; eo nempe, quo duceris. Quid te ipse decipis et hoc nunc primum, quod olim patiebaris, intellegis? Ita dico: ex quo natus es, duceris. Haec et eiusmodi versanda in animo sunt, si volumus ultimam illam horam placidi expectare, cuius metus omnes alias inquietas facit.

« Mais, si le hasard te jette aux mains de tes ennemis, le vainqueur te fera conduire…» Eh ! certes, où tu vas. Pourquoi t’abuser toi-même et reconnaître seulement ici la fatalité que tu subis depuis longtemps ? Entends-moi bien : du jour où tu es né, c’est à la mort que tu marches. Voilà quelle sorte de pensées il faut rouler dans son esprit, si l’on veut attendre en paix cette heure dernière dont la frayeur trouble toutes les autres.

“But,” you will say, “if you should chance to fall into the hands of the enemy, the conqueror will command that you be led away,” - yes, whither you are already being led. Why do you voluntarily deceive yourself and require to be told now for the first time what fate it is that you have long been labouring under? Take my word for it: since the day you were born you are being led thither. We must ponder this thought, and thoughts of the like nature, if we desire to be calm as we await that last hour, the fear of which makes all previous hours uneasy.