Reflections on prayer Seneca
For life and health
Letters 117.24 (closing sentences)
Historical translation
Richard M. Gummere, 1925
Ask the gods for life and health; if thou art resolved to die, death’s reward is to have done with prayers.
Text matched to linked transcription; typography normalized.
Latin
The ancient words
Deos vitam et salutem roga; si mori placuit, hic mortis est fructus, optare desinere.
Literal English
Editorial draft · developed with AI assistance
Ask the gods for life and health. If you have decided to die, this is death’s benefit: to stop wishing.
An aid to reading that has not received independent specialist review. About this rendering
Sources & notes
Historical editions may include surrounding context or use different phrasing. Parallel columns compare passages; their lines are not word-for-word alignments.