~ Seneca warns Lucilius against those who render philosophy as pedantic word-play, a game of making & arguing verbal definitions. ~
O pueriles ineptias! in hoc supercilia subduximus? in hoc barbam demisimus? hoc est quod tristes docemus et pallidi? Vis scire quid philosophia promittat generi humano? consilium. Alium mors vocat, alium paupertas urit, alium divitiae vel alienae torquent vel suae; ille malam fortunam horret, hic se felicitati suae subducere cupit; hunc homines male habent, illum dii. Quid mihi lusoria ista componis? non est iocandi locus: ad miseros advocatus es. Opem laturum te naufragis, captis, aegris, egentibus, intentae securi subiectum praestantibus caput pollicitus es: quo diverteris? quid agis? Hic cum quo ludis timet: succurre, quidquid laqueti respondentium poenis (†)
. Omnes undique ad te manus tendunt, perditae vitae perituraeque auxilium aliquod implorant, in te spes opesque sunt; rogant ut ex tanta illos volutatione extrahas, ut disiectis et errantibus clarum veritatis lumen ostendas.
Dic quid natura necessarium fecerit, quid supervacuum, quam faciles leges posuerit, quam iucunda sit vita, quam expedita illas sequentibus, quam acerba et implicita eorum qui opinioni plus quam naturae crediderunt. si prius docueris, quam partem eorum levatura sint (‡)
. Quid istorum cupiditates demit? quid temperat? Utinam tantum non prodessent! nocent. Hoc tibi cum voles manifestissimum faciam, comminui et debilitari generosam indolem in istas argutias coniectam.
What childish games! Is this nonsense the reason we doff our pride & grow out our beards? The reason we go sad & pale with teaching? You want to know what philosophy really promises the human race? Counsel. Purpose. Death summons one man. Poverty burns another. Wealth, whether his own or that of someone else, is torturing a third. Meanwhile, yet another fellow shudders at his awful fortune, while his mate here longs to escape his own happiness: men hate the latter, and gods the former. Why are you composing silly riddles for me? This is no place for jokes. Here you are an advocate for wretches. You have promised to bring aid to the shipwrecked, to captives & invalids, to the needy, & to those who present their bowed heads before the executioner's axe. Where are you going, as you turn away from them? What are you doing? Your playmate, in these games, is afraid: run to his rescue, no matter what traps lie in wait for first responders (†). Everyone here is reaching for you, extending their hands on every side, begging your assistance for a life already lost or about to perish. Their hope and help depends on you. They implore you to pull them out of the great maelstrom that whirls them round, to show them the clear light of truth as they wander wild and dejected.
Tell them what nature has made necessary for us, and what she has dismissed as utterly useless. Tell them how she has made her laws easy. Tell them how pleasant life is for those who follow these laws, how bitter and complicated it becomes for all who trust their judgment more than nature. Once you have taught these lessons, tell your students what part of their burdens your curriculum shall carry away (‡). What removes their desire for useless things? What moderates its force & expression? If only these desires & the little games that follow from them were merely neutral, failing to confer benefit. But no! They are actively harmful. If you will bear with me, I will show you most clearly that the generous character drawn into these cunning games must find itself weakened and diminished.
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(†) succurre, quidquid laqueti respondentium poenis. This passage appears corrupt. Bücheler emends it thus: succurre, quidquid laqueist timore pendenti rumpens.
(‡) Hense finds the opening of this sentence too abrupt, and adds a clause: Ad horum mala levanda valere lusoria ista crediderim, si prius docueris, quam partem eorum levatura sint.