Letter 60 — On Harmful Prayers (§4)

“Therefore those who, as Sallust puts it, “hearken to their bellies,” should be numbered among the animals, and not among men; and certain men, indeed, should be numbered, not even among the animals, but among the dead. He really lives who is made use of by many; he really lives who makes use of himself. Those men, however, who creep into a hole and grow torpid are no better off in their homes than if they were in their tombs. Right there on the marble lintel of the house of such a man you may inscribe his name, for he has died before he is dead. Farewell. ↑ Catiline, i. 1. ↑ i.e., like animals. ↑ i.e., you may put an epitaph upon his dwelling as if it were a tomb.”