600. De Senectute. Marcus Tullius Cicero. I came to read this again after reading D. McCullough’s biography of John Adams in which he remarks that John Adams read De Senectute every year. Cicero composed this later in life to help Atticus and himself improve their understanding of old age and its place in life. He also wrote it for the likes of us for the same reasons. It is a conversation which he places in the time of Cato the Elder in his last years with his friends, Gaius Laelius and Publius Cornelius Scipio. They ask his advice about dealing with old age. Cato deals with the four complaints often leveled at old age:
1. Removes us from active pursuits.
2. The body is weaker.
3. It removes almost all pleasures.
4. It is close to death.
What I have chosen to do is list those quotes I found most attractive. First the Latin is given and then the English translation.
( philosophiae) qui pareat omne tempus aetatis sine molestia possit degere. (2)
Whoever obeys philosophy can live each phase of life without weariness.
Sumus sapientes quod naturam optimam ducem tamquam deum sequimur (5)
We are wise because we follow nature as the best leader as a god.
(extremum) ferendum est molliter sapienti.(5)
A wise person must softly endure the end.
In moribus est culpa, non in aetate (7)
(the problem with old age) is in one’s way of life not in life itself
Importunitas autem et inhumanitas omni aetati molesta est. (7)
rudeness however and surliness in every period of life are annoying
nec Hercule si ego Seriphium essem, nec tu, si Atheniensi, clarum umquam fuisses. (8)
( In the course of the conversation someone suggests that Cato endures old age well because of his wealth, success, etc. This prompts Cato to recall the reply that Themistocles made to some one who claimed that he, Themistocles, was famous because he came from a famous city, Athens. This is Themistocles’reply.)
By God you are right, if I were a citizen of Seriphos I would not be famous, nor would you be famous if you had been born in Athens
aptissima omnino sunt arma senectutis artes exercitationesque virtutum (9)
without a doubt the most suitable weapons of old age are the skills and employment of moral courage.
(virtutes) mirificos ecferunt fructus (9)
moral courage brings forth impressive fruit
(Livius) mea opera, Q. Fabi, Tarentum recepisti. Certe nam nisi tu amisses, numquam recepissem (11)
Cato mentions an exchange between Livius who had lost the town of Tarentum (but managed to hold a small fort inside it) to Hannibal during the 2nd Punic War and Quintus Fabius Maximus who recaptured it.
Livius says: By my effort, Quintus Fabius, you have recaptured Tarentum. Fabius: Yes, indeed, For if you had not lost the town in the first place, I would never have been able to take it back.
est etiam quiete et pure atque eleganter actae aetatis placida ac lenis senectus (13)
The old age of a life spent in quiet study and devoted to thought is peaceful and gentle
non viribus aut velocitate aut celeritate corporum res magnae geruntur sed consilio, auctoritate, sententia (17)
not by physical force or velocity or speed of the body are great deeds done but by planning, influence and thought.
maximas res publicas ad adulescentibus labefactatas, a senibus sustentatas et restitutas reperietis (20)
the mightiest governments have been weakened by those who are young, by the old supported and revived you will find
temeritas est videlicet florentis aetatis, prudentia senescentis (20)
rashness is of course a characteristic of vigorous youth, discretion that of slowing old age
nec vero quemquam senem audivi oblitum quo loco thesaurum obruisset. (21)
In fact I have never heard that an old man had forgotten where he had buried his treasure.
nemo enim est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse vivere (24)
no one is so old who does not think that he can live one more year.
quorum usque ad extremum spiritum est provecta prudentia (27) (Said of a Roman who even in extreme old age pushed on and made his life useful not just for himself but for society.)
whose expertise (in law) carried on through to his last gulp of air
libidinosa enim et intemperans adulescentia effetum corpus tradit senectuti (30)
a lustful and uncontrolled youth hands down a worn out body to old age
ex eius lingua melle dulcior fluebat oratio (31) (Said of Nestor, the oldest of the old in the Iliad)
from his lips flowed speech sweeter than honey
potest igitur exercitatio et temperantia etiam in senectute conservare aliquid pristina roboris (34)
it can be the case that exercise and temperance are able to preserve something of that former strength in old age
resistendum senectuti est (35)
old age must be resisted
(animus/mens) quoque, nisi tamquam lumini oleum instilles exstinguuntur senectute (35)
the mind and the intellect also, unless you should fill with oil, just as a lamp, are extinguished in old age
et corpora quidem exercitationum defetigatione ingravescunt, animi autem exercitando levantur (36)
in fact bodies grow heavy with fatigue of exercise, but the intellect is refreshed by mental activity
ut enim adulescentem in quo est senile aliquid, sic senem in quo est aliquid adulescentis probo, quod qui sequitur, corpore senex esse poterit, animo numquam erit (38)
for just as I approve of a young person in whom there is something of the old, so I approve an old person in whom there is something of youth, whoever follows this will be old in body but never in intellect.
neque omnino in voluptatis regno virtutes posse consistere (41)
in the kingdom of pleasure virtues can not possibly rest
...nihil esse tam detestabile tamque pestiferum quam voluptatem, si quidem ea, cum maior esset atque longior, omne animi lumen exstingueret. (41)
nothing is so repulsive and so destructive as pleasure, if this is pursued for too long and too much, it would snuff out all light of the intellect.
nihil est otiosa senectute iucundius (49)
nothing is more pleasant than a tranquil old age
suadae medullam (50)
the marrow of eloquence
...volupate animi nulla certe potest esse maior (50)
surely nothing can be greater than pleasure of mental activity
(natura) cum gremio molliter ac subacto sparsum semen excepit (51)
(nature) has taken the seed scattered about within its softly turned lap
(uva) quid potest esse cum fructu laetius, tum aspectu pulchrius? (53)
what can be not only more delightful than a cluster of grapes but also more beautiful in appearance?
mea quidem sententia haud scio an nulla beatior possit esse (56)
in my opinion I can not imagine more rich (than cultivation of the soil)
miseram esse senectutem quae se oratione defenderet (62)
that old age is miserable which must defend itself with speech
non cani nec rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt (62)
not white hair and not wrinkles can suddenly possess dignity
in fragili corpore odiosa omnis offensio est
in a frail body every offense is hateful
ut enim, non omne vinum, sic non omnis natura vetustate coacescit (65)
just as not every wine, thus not every natural disposition grows bitter with age
potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quo viae minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere? (66)
nothing could possibly be more ridiculous than the less remains of the road, to seek more traveling expenses
quae (mors) aut plane neglegenda est, si omnino exstinguit animum, aut etiam optanda, si aliquo eum deducit ubi sit futurum aeternum. (66)
death clearly either must be ignored, if it completely snuffs out the intellect or it even must be desired, if in some way death leads it where it would exist forever.
horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequantur sciri potest. quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. (69)
yet the hours pass and days and months and years, and no moment is ever repeated and what follows can not be known. What time is given to each for living, with this each ought to be content
breve enim tempus aetatis satis longum est ad bene honesteque vivendum. (70)
the time of life is long enough to live well and with integrity
est quasi poma ex arboribus, cruda si sunt, vix evelluntur, si matura et cocta, decidunt, sic vitam adulescentibus vis aufert, senibus maturitas; quae quidem mihi tam iucunda est, ut, quo propius ad mortem accedam, quasi terram videre videar aliquandoque in portum ex longa navigatione esse venturus. (71)
just as apples on a tree, if indeed immature, scarcely are plucked, if ripe and cooked, drop, in the same way young life force carries away, old age ripeness; this indeed is so pleasant that the nearer I draw to death, I seem to see land and at some time or other into the harbor from a long voyage to soon arrive
ut navem, ut aedificium idem destruit facillime qui construxit, sic hominem eadem optime quae conglutinavit natura dissolvit. (72)
just as a ship, a building the same who built it most easily dismantles, thus a person the very same nature which held it together dissolves
ergo ut superiorum aetatum studia occidunt, sic occidunt etiam senectutis (76)
just as the interests of earlier life fall away, so too those of old age
nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari (83)
I have no desire, when the race is almost complete, to be called back to the starting gate
commorandi enim natura divorsorium nobis, non habitandi dedit (84)
nature has given us lodging for lingering, not indefinite stay
sin mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor ne hunc errorem meum philosophi mortui irrideant. (85)
But if when dead, as certain diminished philosophers decree, I feel nothing, I have no fear that this error of mine dead philosophers will mock.
nam habet natura, ut aliarum omnium rerum, sic vivendi modum. (85)
for just as nature has of all other things, so she has of life a conclusion
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