Quanta autem dementia eius est quem clamores imperitorum hilarem ex auditorio dimittunt! Quid laetaris quod ab hominibus his laudatus es quos non potes ipse laudare?
Koks kvailas tas, kurį nemokšų liaupsės linksmą išlydi iš klausytojų būrio! Ko džiaugies, kai tave giria žmonės, kurių pats negali girti?
How mad is he who leaves the lecture-room in a happy frame of mind simply because of applause from the ignorant! Why do you take pleasure in being praised by men whom you yourself cannot praise?
Quando fatuo delectari volo, non est mihi longe quaerendus; me rideo.
Kai noriu, kad mane linksmintų juokdarys, neieškau toli: juokiuosi iš savęs.
Whenever I wish to enjoy the quips of a clown, I am not compelled to hunt far; I can laugh at myself.
Tunc autem felicem esse te iudica cum poteris in publico vivere, cum te parietes tui tegent, non abscondent, quos plerumque circumdatos nobis iudicamus non ut tutius vivamus, sed ut peccemus occultius. <...> Bona conscientia turbam advocat, mala etiam in solitudine anxia atque sollicita est. Si honesta sunt quae facis, omnes sciant; si turpia, quid refert neminem scire cum tu scias?
Laikyk save laimingu tada, kai galėsi gyventi visiems matant, kai tavo sienos tave gins, bet neslėps. Dažniausiai manome, jog jos statomos ne tam, kad saugiai gyventume, bet tam, kad galėtume slapčia nusidėti. <...> Gryna sąžinė nebijo sušaukti visos minios, o negryna sąžinė net ir vienumoje graužia ir neduoda ramybės. Jeigu tavo poelgiai garbingi, visi apie juos težino, o jeigu begėdiški, kas iš to, kad niekas apie tai nežino, jei tu pats žinai?!
Do not, however, deem yourself truly happy until you find that you can live before men’s eyes, until your walls protect but do not hide you: although we are apt to believe that these walls surround us, not to enable us to live more safely, but that we may sin more secretly. <...> A good conscience welcomes the crowd, but a bad conscience, even in solitude, is disturbed and troubled. If your deeds are honourable, let everybody know them; if base, what matters it that no one knows them, as long as you yourself know them?
Quoscumque in medium fortuna protulit, quicumque membra ac partes alienae potentiae fuerant, horum gratia viguit, domus frequentata est, dum ipsi steterunt: post ipsos cito memoria defecit. Ingeniorum crescit dignatio nec ipsis tantum honor habetur, sed quidquid illorum memoriae adhaesit excipitur.
Tie, kuriuos sėkmė iškelia, kurie esti dešinė svetimos valdžios ranka, gerbiami ir lankomi tol, kol gyvena, o kai jų nebelieka, miršta ir jų atminimas. Talentingųjų šlovė vis auga, ir gerbiami ne tik jie patys, bet ir visa, kas susiję su jų atminimu.
Whenever men have been thrust forward by fortune, whenever they have become part and parcel of anothers influence, they have found abundant favour, their houses have been thronged, only so long as they themselves have kept their position; when they themselves have left it, they have slipped at once from the memory of men. But in the case of innate ability, the respect in which it is held increases, and not only does honour accrue to the man hiniself, but whatever has attached itself to his memory is passed on from one to another.