Reflections on prayer Seneca
For health of mind and body
Letters 10.4 (excerpt)
Historical translation
Richard M. Gummere, 1917
As for your former prayers, you may dispense the gods from answering them; offer new prayers; pray for a sound mind and for good health, first of soul and then of body. And of course you should offer those prayers frequently. Call boldly upon God; you will not be asking him for that which belongs to another.
Text matched to linked transcription; typography normalized.
Latin
The ancient words
Votorum tuorum veterum licet dis gratiam facias, alia de integro suscipe; roga bonam mentem, bonam valitudinem animi, deinde tunc corporis. Quidni tu ista vota saepe facias? Audacter deum roga; nihil illum de alieno rogaturus es.
Literal English
Editorial draft · developed with AI assistance
You may release the gods from your former vows; undertake fresh ones. Ask for a good mind, for good health of soul, and then of body. Why should you not make these prayers often? Ask God boldly: you will ask him for nothing belonging to someone else.
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Sources & notes
Historical editions may include surrounding context or use different phrasing. Parallel columns compare passages; their lines are not word-for-word alignments.