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[ 401 ] Negandi causa avaro nusquam deficit.
[ 401 ] Greedy people never lack an excuse [a reason for refusing].
[ 402 ] Quotidie damnatur qui semper timet.
[ 402 ] The person who lives in fear is convicted every day.
[ 403 ] Semper aetas vergit in pejus, et mores hominum in dies magis ac magis degenerant.
[ 403 ] The times are always getting worse and day by day people's morality is deteriorating more and more.
[ 404 ] Stultum est timere, quod vitari non potest.
[ 404 ] It is foolish to fear what can't be avoided.
[ 405 ] Tam deest avaro quod habet, quam quod non habet.
[ 405 ] Persons compelled by greed lack what they have as much as what they don't have.
[ 406 ] Avarus et suis et alienis ex aequo caret.
[ 406 ] Misers are equally deprived of what belongs to them and what belongs to others.
[ 407 ] Sententiae.
[ 407 ] Maxims.
[ 408 ] Magnus erroris magister, populus.
[ 408 ] A great teacher of error, the people. ["People in general are very good at illustrating what not to do."]
[ 409 ] Assuescat unusquisque jam tum a puero veras habere de rebus opiniones, quae simul cum aetate adolescent.
[ 409 ] From childhood, people all get used to having the right ideas about things, and these ideas will mature in keeping with the stages of their lives.
[ 410 ] Eligenda est optima vitae ratio, hanc consuetudo jucundissimam reddet.
[ 410 ] Select the best plan for living - routine will make it a most delightful one.
[ 411 ] Homo ex corpore constat et animo.
[ 411 ] A person is made up of body and intellect.
[ 412 ] Corpus habemus ex terra et his elementis quae cernimus ac tangimus, corporibus bestiarum simile.
[ 412 ] We have a body [made] out of earth and these elements that we perceive and touch, like the bodies of animals.
[ 413 ] Animum divinitus datum, Angelis et Deo similem, unde censetur homo, et qui solus merito esset homo appellandus, ut maximis viris placuit. Animus enim cujusque is est quisque.
[ 413 ] [We have] a mind given by divine power, an intellect like the angels and God. On this basis one is judged a person, and only should such be rightly called a person, as the greatest men have chosen to do. For the intellect [or spirit] of each person is that individual.
[ 414 ] Regina et princeps rerum omnium praestantissima est Virtus, cui reliqua omnia si suo velint officio defungi, ancillari oportet.
[ 414 ] The best queen and leader of all endeavors is Virtue, which all the rest have to serve if they want to perform their duties.
[ 415 ] Divitiae non sunt gemmae aut mettalla, non magnifica aedificia, vel supellex instructa: sed non iis carere quae sunt ad tuendam vitam necessaria.
[ 415 ] Wealth is not precious stones or metals, not magnificent buildings, or well-made furniture: but it is not being deprived of that which is indispensable for the protection of life.
[ 416 ] Corpus ipsum nihil aliud est, quam tegumentum vel mancipium animi, cui et natura, et ratio, et Deus jubent subjectum esse, ut brutum sentienti, mortale immortali ac divino.
[ 416 ] The body itself is nothing but a protective shell and a serving agency for the mind, to which nature, and reason, and God bids it to be subject, as the insensate is subject to what has feeling and what dies is subject to what is undying and godly.
[ 417 ] Quid aliud est vita, quam peregrinatio quaedam, tot undique casibus objecta et petita, cui nulla hora non imminet finis, qui potest levissimis de causis accidere?
[ 417 ] What is life but a kind of journey, beset and beleaguered by so many calamities on all sides, over each moment of which looms an end that can occur for the silliest of reasons?
[ 418 ] Quemadmodum in via, sic et in vita, quo quis expeditior, et paucioribus sarcinis implicitus, hoc levius et jucundius iter facit.
[ 418 ] The way it is on the road is the same way it is in life: the one who has less baggage and is entangled with fewer burdens makes it a lighter and more delightful journey.
[ 419 ] Divitiae, et possessiones, et vestimenta in usum tantum parantur. Non adjuvant quenquam immensae opes, sed opprimunt, ut navem ingentia onera.
[ 419 ] Riches and possessions and clothing are gotten only for their use. Vast wealth doesn't help anyone; rather it weighs everyone down, as heavy cargo does a ship.
[ 420 ] Aurum nisi utare, parum differt a coeno, nisi quod magis angit ejus custodia: et efficit ut dum uni studes, ea negligas, quae sunt homini maxime salutaria.
[ 420 ] Gold is not very different from garbage, unless you make use of it, except that guarding it causes more stress, and it distracts you from whatever is especially good for a person's health while it makes you put your interest into that one thing alone.
[ 421 ] Divitiarum maxima pars, aedificia, supellex numerosa et opulenta, gemmae aurum, argentum, ornamentorum omne genus, spectantium oculis, et comparantur, et exponuntur, non possidentium usibus.
[ 421 ] The largest part of riches, buildings, furniture that is rich and abundant, precious stones, gold, silver, and every kind of decoration - [these] are both gotten and displayed for the eyes of the ones looking at it, and not for the uses of those possessing it.
[ 422 ] Quid aliud est nobilitas, quam nascendi sors et opinio a populi stultitia inducta? [e]t quae saepenumero latrociniis quaeritur.
[ 422 ] What is nobility but accident of birth and belief that has been introduced by the foolishness of the people? And it is quite often gotten by means of robberies.
[ 423 ] Vera et solida nobilitas a virtute nascitur: stultumque est gloriari te parentem habuisse bonum, quum sis ipse malus; et turpitudine tua dedecori sis pulchritudini generis.
[ 423 ] A real, authentic nobility arises from virtue: it is silly to boast that you had a good parent, when you yourself are bad, and by your disreputable character you are a shameful stain upon the attractive wholesomeness of your house.
[ 424 ] Ignobilitatem contemnere, est Deum nascendi authorem tacite reprehendere.
[ 424 ] To despise someone's lowly birth is to quietly rebuke God, the originator of [all] bearing.
[ 425 ] Potentia quid est aliud quam speciosa molestia? in qua si quis sciret, quae solicitudines, quae anxietates insint, quantum malorum mare, nemo est tam ambitiosus, qui non eam fugeret, ut gravem miseriam.
[ 425 ] What is power but an alluring annoyance? No one is so ambitious that he, if he knew what worries, what concerns, and how great a sea of troubles are in it, would not flee it as he would flee a situation of serious distress.
[ 426 ] Quantum est odium si regas malos, quanto majus si malus ipse.
[ 426 ] How great is the hatred if you have control over wicked people, and how much worse it is if you are wicked yourself!
[ 427 ] Quid in somno, quid in solitudine inter summum regem interest, et infimum servum?
[ 427 ] What difference is there in sleep or solitude between the greatest king and the lowest servant?
[ 428 ] In corpore ipso quid est forma? Nempe articula bene colorata. Si intraria cerni possent, quanta vel in corpore speciosissimo cerneretur foeditas?
[ 428 ] What is beauty in the body itself? Certainly attractively-colored limbs. If the inner organs could be perceived, how much ugliness would be found to exist in even the most appealing body?
[ 429 ] Lineamenta et corporis decor quid juvant, si turpis sit animus? Et (sicut Graecus ille dixit) in hospitio pulchro hospes deformis?
[ 429 ] What good do the handsome looks and attractive features of the body do, if the mind is base and like "an ugly guest in a beautiful lodge," as that famous Greek said?
[ 430 ] Forma, vires, agilitas, et caeterae corporis dotes, ut flosculi celeriter marcescunt, exiguis casibus diffugiunt. Vel una febricula validissimum quandoque hominem concutit, et summum decorem tollit.
[ 430 ] Beauty, strength, agility, and the other gifts of the body wither quickly, as little flowers disappear on account of trivial causes. Even a bout of fever sometimes shakes the most robust of men, and wipes out all the charm of his appearance.
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