Seneca Letter 1, read in Latin ("On saving time")

The system of pronunciation used in this video is the Calabrese one; the English translation in the subtitles is that of Richard M. Gummere from 1917. This is my first attempt at speaking Latin, and I apologize for any deficiencies.

Latin text, with macrons:

Ita fac, mī Lūcīlī: vindicā tē tibī, et tempus quod adhūc aut auferēbātur, aut subripiēbātur, aut excīdēbat, collige et servā. Persuādē tibī hoc sīc esse ut scrībō: quaedam tempora ēripiuntur nōbīs, quaedam subdūcuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactūra, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et sī volueris attendere, maxima pars vītae, ēlābitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tōta vīta aliud agentibus. Quem mihi dabis, quī aliquod pretium temporī pōnat, quī diem aestimet, quī intellegat sē cotīdiē morī? In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prōspicimus: magna pars eius, iam praeterit; quidquid aetātis retrō est, mors tenet.

Fac ergō, mī Lūcīlī, quod facere tē scrībis, omnēs hōrās complectere; sīc fīet, ut minus ex crāstinō pendeās, sī hodiernō manum iniēceris. Dum differtur vīta trānscurrit. Omnia, Lūcīlī, aliēna sunt; tempus tantum nostrum est. In huius reī ūnīus, fugācis ac lūbricae possessiōnem, nātūra nōs mīsit, ex quā expellit quīcumque vult. Et tanta stultitia mortālium est, ut quae minima et vīlissima sunt, certē reparābilia, imputārī sibi, cum impetrāvēre, patiantur: nēmō see iūdicet quicquam dēbēre, quī tempus accēpit; cum interim hoc ūnum est, quod nē grātus, quidem, potest reddere.

Interrogābis, fortasse, quid egō faciam, quī tibī ista praecipiō. Fatēbor ingenuē: quod apud luxuriōsum sed dīligentem ēvenit, ratiō mihi cōnstat impēnsae. Nōn possum dīcere nihil perdere, sed quid perdam, et quārē, et quemadmodum, dīcam; causās paupertātis meae reddam. Sed ēvenit mihi quod plērīsque, nōn suō vitiō ad inopiam redāctīs: omnēs ignōscunt, nēmō succurrit.

Quid ergō est? nōn putō pauperem, cui, quantulumcumque superest, sat est. Tū tamen, mālō servēs tua, et bonō tempore incipiēs. Nam ut vīsum est maiōribus nostrīs, sēra parsimōnia, in fundō est. Nōn enim tantum minimum in īmō, sed pessimum remanet. Valē.

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English text:

Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius – set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words, – that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore, if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years lie behind us are in death's hands.

Therefore, Lucilius, do as you write me that you are doing: hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by. Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession. What fools these mortals be! They allow the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never regard themselves as in debt when they have received some of that precious commodity, – time! And yet time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay.

You may desire to know how I, who preach to you so freely, am practising. I confess frankly: my expense account balances, as you would expect from one who is free-handed but careful. I cannot boast that I waste nothing, but I can at least tell you what I am wasting, and the cause and manner of the loss; I can give you the reasons why I am a poor man. My situation, however, is the same as that of many who are reduced to slender means through no fault of their own: every one forgives them, but no one comes to their rescue.

What is the state of things, then? It is this: I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him. I advise you, however, to keep what is really yours; and you cannot begin too early. For, as our ancestors believed, it is too late to spare when you reach the dregs of the cask. Of that which remains at the bottom, the amount is slight, and the quality is vile. Farewell.