Lettres à Lucilius Section 8

Faciet autem illud firmum adsidua meditatio, si non verba exercueris, sed animum, si contra mortem te praeparaveris, adversus quam non exhortabitur nec adtollet, qui cavillationibus tibi persuadere temptaverit mortem malum non esse. Libet enim, Lucili virorum optime, ridere ineptias Graecas, quas nondum, quamvis mirer, excussi.

C’est ici qu’il vous faut un cœur, une âme ferme. »

Et ce qui donne cette fermeté, c’est de méditer assidûment, d’exercer non point ton langage, mais ton âme ; de t’aguerrir contre la mort, sans espérer sur ce point ni encouragements ni force morale de ceux qui, par des chicanes de mots, tenteront de te persuader que la mort n’est point un mal. Car enfin, sage
Lucilius, moquons-nous un peu de ces inepties grecques dont, à ma grande surprise, je ne suis pas encore bien revenu.

This strength of heart, however, will come from constant study, provided that you practise, not with the tongue but with the soul, and provided that you prepare yourself to meet death. To enable yourself to meet death, you may expect no encouragement or cheer from those who try to make you believe, by means of their hair-splitting logic, that death is no evil. For I take pleasure, excellent Lucilius, in poking fun at the absurdities of the Greeks, of which, to my continual surprise, I have not yet succeeded in ridding myself.