Reflections on prayer Seneca
For life and health
Letters 117.24 (closing sentences)
Original text
Latin
The ancient words
Deos vitam et salutem roga; si mori placuit, hic mortis est fructus, optare desinere.
Modern rendering
Close to the words
Literal English · editorial draft
Ask the gods for life and health. If you have decided to die, this is death’s benefit: to stop wishing.
An editorial aid to reading, not a substitute for the original. About this rendering
Historical translation
1925 · Source edition ↗
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.
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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.
The source review is selective. Additional prototype transcriptions are preserved in the repository pending verification. Editorial method →