WHEN I thinke vpon the affayres , and fortunes of men , their vncertaine and sudden chaunces and changes , truely I finde nothyng almost more fraile , nothing more vnquiet , then the lyfe of man . For I perceiue howe nature hath prouided well for all other liuing creatures , by a woonderful kind of remedie , to wit , a certaine ignorance of them selues : but in vs only she hath conuerted our memorie , vnderstanding , prouidence , and moreouer the diuine giftes of our minde , vnto our owne toyle and destruction . For being alwayes subiect not onely vnto vayne and superfluous , but also hurtfull and pestiferous cares , we are both greeued with the present time , and also vexed with the time past , and that is to come : so that we seeme to feare nothyng so muche , as not to seeme at all tymes to be in miserie . Our studie is so great , whereby we heape together causes of miseries , and nouryshmentes of sorowes , whereby we make our lyfe , whiche yf it were wel gouerned , were the most happie & pleasaunt thyng that we possesse , a wretched and wofull toyle , whose entraunce is blindnesse , going forwarde toyle , ende sorowe , and the whole course errour : Whiche he shall fynde to be so , whosoeuer with diligent eye consydereth the whole race of his owne lyfe . What day doo we passe ouer in rest and quietnesse ? or rather doo we not finde more painefull and troublesome then other ? What mornyng haue we euer passed so merie and pleasaunt , that hath not been surprised with sorowe and heauinesse before night ? Of whiche euyll , although a great cause doo rest in the thinges them selues , neuerthelesse vnlesse our selfe loue deceyue vs , a greater cause , or to confesse the trueth , the whole cause consisteth in our selues : and to let passe all other thinges whereby we are troubled on euery syde , what war , and how perpetuall is it which we maintayne agaynst Fortune , wherein Vertue only can make vs conquerours ? But willingly , & wittingly we reuolt from her . We only being weaklinges & vnarmed , encounter a most fierce foe in vnequall fight : whom she againe , as lightly as thinges of nought , tosseth vs vp , and throweth vs downe , & turneth vs round about , and plaieth with vs , so that it were better for vs to be quite ouercome , then continually to be had in skorne . And what is the cause hereof , but only our owne lightnes & daintines : for we seeme to be good for nothing els , but to be tossed hither & thither like a Tennise bal , being creatures of very short life , of infinite carefulnesse , & yet ignorant vnto what shoare to fal with our shyp , or vnto what resolution to apply our mindes , whose determination is alwayes to hang in doubt : and besides the present euil , alwayes to haue somewhat to greeue vs behind our backe , & before our eyes to make vs afeard . Which thing hapneth vnto no creature besides man , for vnto all other it is most perfect securitie to haue escaped that which is present . But we , in respect of our wit , and the vnderstanding of our minde , are in continual wrastling & strife with an enemie , as it were a three headed Cerberus . So that it had ben almost better for vs to haue wanted reason , since we turne the force of our heauenly nature against our selues : for it were now an hard matter to resist & subdue this euil , being so deepely rooted through age & custome . Notwithstanding , we must endeuour to doo what we may , vnto which purpose besides the industrie of a couragious minde , to whom nothing is hard , nothing inexpugnable , it were most conuenient to adioyne the sundrie speeches of wyse men , although this kinde be now also very rare , and especially continual and diligent reading of the woorkes and monumentes of good auctours , so that there want not in vs a willing minde to consent vnto their holsome instructions , which I may boldly tearme in earth to be the only & liuely fountaine of good and fruitfull aduice . Wherfore , since we know that meane writers somtime are commended for their bare affection , or for that they haue seemed to haue broken the Ice vnto those that haue followed them : howe greatly are we beholden vnto the great and famous writers , who being conuersant many hundred yeeres before vs here vpon the earth , in their diuine wittes , and most godly ordinances , doo yet lyue , dwel , and talke with vs ? And among the perpetuall surges of our mindes , like so many bright shining Starres fixed in the firmament of Trueth , like so many sweete and pleasant gales of winde , like so many industrious and expert saylers , do both point vs to the hauen , and direct the flittering sayles of our barkes thither , and guyde the sterne of our flitting minde , vntyll such tyme as our consultations , which haue ben tost and driuen to and fro by tempestes , doo stay their course , and qualifie their motions . And this is the true Philosophie , not which is lifted vp with deceiptfull winges , and vainely casteth about , most proudly boasting it selfe in vnprofitable disputations , but that by assured and modest degrees leadeth the rediest way vnto safetie . To exhort thee vnto this studie perhaps it were freendly done , but truely it is not necessarie : For Fortune hath made thee greedie to reade much , and to knowe many thynges , who , as they say , beareth a great stroke in the worlde , exposing thee to be tossed in the troublesome and deepe sea of cares and troubles . Howbeit , as she hath taken from thee the leasure to reade , so hath she not the desire to knowe , but that beyng delighted alwayes in the frendshyppe and familiaritie of learned men , and vpon the most busiest dayes , as often as opportunitie shall serue to steale idle houres , thou myghtest haue a wyll to be euery day better instructed , and learned in most excellent matters : wherein I am a witnesse that thou hast often vsed thy memorie , wherein thou art inferiour to none , in steede of bookes . Wherevnto yf thou were prone enough in thyne youth , thou art nowe to be deemed so muche the more proner : as the wayfaryng man that settech foorth late , may seeme to be fresher and redier to trauayle , then he that set foorth in the mornyng , forasmuche as this is a common complaint among them , that the way waxeth longer , and the day decreaseth : the whiche thing hapneth vnto vs in this course of our lyfe , whilest we trauayle towardes the euenyng , and see that we haue yet a long way to walke . I neede not therefore to exhorte thee to doo that , whiche thou hast alwayes doone most greedily of thine owne accorde : It shall suffice me to haue admonished thee , that thou bende thy minde in such sort , that no care of humane and worldly affayres remoue thee , which in the very finishing of great and most excellent workes , haue turned many away , after their woorthie and commendable traueiles begun . Adding this moreouer , that seeing it is impossible for thee to reade , or here , or remember all thinges at once , thou repose thy selfe vpon the most profitable , and , for that breuitie is freend to Memorie , the most briefest of them . Not that I perswade thee to neglect the more busie and great conclusions and resolutions of wisedome , whereby thou mayst defende thy selfe in the ordinarie conflict with Fortune , but that thou mightest be lightly furnished in the meane while with these short and precise sentences , as it were with certaine light and continual armour , against al assaultes and sudden inuasions hapning on any side whatsoeuer . For we wage double war with Fortune , and in both there is in a manner equal danger : wherof there is but one part commonly knowen by that name , to wit , that which is called Aduersitie . The Philosophers although they knew both , yet they iudged this to be the harder . And therfore the saying of Aristotle in his boke of Ethikes is receiued as true , wherein he thus defineth , concerning this matter : saying , That it is an harder matter to endure aduersitie , then to abstaine from pleasures . Whom Seneca following , and writing to Lucillus : It is a greater matter , sayth he , to passe ouer difficult matters , then to moderate the prosperous . What shall I say ? May I presume to gaggle among such woorthie men ? It is an hard matter , & breedeth no smal suspition of rashnes , for a new man to medle wi●h olde matters . And therfore on the one side I am moued by auctoritie , on the other by antiquitie . But there commeth vnto my mind , the auctoritie of an other great & auncient man : For it cannot be otherwise , but that euery man conceiue an opinion of a thing , according as it appeareth vnto him . They are the woordes of Marcus Brutus , writing vnto Atticus , which I suppose to be so true , that nothyng can be more true . For what can I iudge of any thyng , otherwyse then I thynke ? vnlesse perhappes I be constrayned to iudge by other mennes iudgementes , whiche who so dooeth , he iudgeth not of hym selfe , but reporteth the iudgementes of other . I therefore thus with reuerence passing ouer the iudgementes of suche notable men , beyng in suche manner affectioned , if I woulde say any thyng concernyng myne owne iudgement , I knowe wel that some haue diuersly disputed otherwyse of the vertues , and that the preheminence is not alwayes geuen to the most difficult , neyther that it hapned by chaunce that modestie , or whether thou had rather cal it temperance , possessed the last place . But as touchyng our purpose whereof we entreate , I suppose it an harder matter to gouerne prosperitie , then aduersitie : and I playnely professe , that in mine opinion , and also in mine experience , flatteryng fortune is more to be feared , and farre more perilous , then threatnyng fortune : vnto whiche opinion , it is not the fame of writers , nor the subtiltie of woords , nor the false sillogismes of sophisters , but true experience it selfe , and the dayly examples of this lyfe , and the scarcitie , whiche is a great argument of the difficultie , whiche enforceth me . For why ? I haue seene many that haue indifferently susteyned losses , pouertie , exile , imprisonment , punyshment , death , and great sickenesses that are more greeuous then death : but that could wel beare ryches , honoures , and power , I neuer yet sawe any . For oftentymes , euen in my sight , those that haue stoode inuincible agaynst al violence of aduerse fortune , prosperous fortune hath ouerthrowen with smal force , and her flatteries haue ouercome that valiencie of mans minde , whiche her threatnynges could not subdue . It commeth to passe , I wot not how , that so soone as fortune waxeth more milde , the softned mindes of men beginne lykewyse to growe proud , and by enioying prosperitie , to conceyue forgetfulnesse of their owne condition . Neyther is it spoken without cause , and vsed nowe among our countrey men as a prouerbe , that it is an harde matter to beare prosperitie . Neyther was it spoken by Horace vnaduisedly , Learne to beare wel good fortune : For he iudged it to be an hard matter , and not knowen without diligent studie . But Seneca very breefely discoursed of that part of fortune , which seemed vnto hym to be most difficult , and is doubtlesse at the first sight the more rough and hard of the twayne . Whiche booke is commonly abrode in mens handes , whereunto it is not my meaning to adde or detract any thyng at al , both for that the woorke , being wrytten by so great a wit , disdayneth to come vnder our censure , & also being busied about mine owne affayres , am not purposed to correcte or carpe other mens doinges . But forasmuche as Vertue and Trueth are publique thinges , there is no reason that the studie of antiquitie shoulde be any hindrance to the industrie of posteritie , for whose cause we knowe that it was vndertaken , to the ende we should thereby be styrred vp and holpen . And therfore I purpose to entreate with thee somewhat concernyng the same matter , that that whiche he dyd then for his freende Gallio , I may nowe do in lyke sort for my freende Azo , whiche I am determined so farre foorth to accomplishe , as shal lye in this my busied and werie wyt to do : and ouer and besides also , to touche the other part , whiche eyther of forgetfulnesse or purpose was by hym pretermitted . I haue moreouer of set purpose mingled a fewe matters , not touchyng the defectes of any fortune , but the excellencie of vertues or vices : whiche although they be besides the purpose , yet are not vnlyke in effect , & seeme to be suche as are able to make mens mindes glad or sorowfull . Wherein how I haue behaued my selfe , thou shalt be iudge , being mindeful of my businesse and the shortnesse of the tyme , who with great admiration sawest the whole woorke begunne and ended in a very fewe dayes , I only am iudge of the credite . I haue endeuoured not to set downe whatsoeuer seemed best lykyng to my selfe , but that myght be most profitable vnto thee and others , whosoeuer els haply hath touched the same . To be short , the ende whiche I alwayes proposed to my selfe in this kynde of studie , was not so muche the commendation of the wryter , as the commoditie of the reader , yf so be there may be any hoped for or receiued by me , hauing a speciall respect hereunto , that it should not be needeful for thee to tosse and turne ouer thy whole armorie at euery alarme and doubt of the enemie : but rather to the entent thou myghtest haue in a redinesse agaynst euer mischeefe , and hurtful good , & eyther fortune , a short medicine , but freendly confected for a double disease : so that thou mayest alwayes haue at hande , as they say , in al places , & at al times , as it were , an effectual remedie conteyned in a litle boxe . For as I haue said , both Fortunes faces are to be feared , but notwithstandyng both must be endured , whereof the one hath neede of a bridle , the other of comfort : in the one , the pride of the minde of men is to be repressed : in the other , their werinesse and greefe to be succoured and relieued . Wherefore , when I thought vpon this varietie , and purposed with my selfe to wryte somewhat concernyng this argument , not only thou camest into my minde woorthie of that gyft , which both of vs may vse indifferently , as sayeth Cicero , but alonely moouedst me to wryte it , not onely in woordes , as beyng priuie of al mine enterprises whatsoeuer , but also in deedes , being of sufficient ●bilitie to perfourme them both . For we knowe how that Fortune hath tormented many vpon the racke , & many she hath lulled asleepe in delites , and many she hath swinged vp & downe in her wheele : neyther want we examples of such as clymbe , nor of some that fal , neyther am I ignorant that some haue been throwen downe from the top of high dignitie . Howe many Emperours of Rome , how many forren Princes , being plucked out of their regal thrones , eyther by their owne handes , or the handes of their enimies , haue been depriued both of their lyues & Empires at one instant ? Shal we borowe al our examples of antiquitie , since we our selues haue seene of late dayes some kynges taken prisoners , and some slaine in battayl , and some beheaded at home , and ( which is most extreame of al ) some hanged by the necke , & some most shamefully mangled in peeces ? Thou art one vnto whom Nature hath geuen a princely hart , but Fortune hath not geuen a kyngdome , nor yet taken it away : yet whom in other respectes she hath more diuersly tossed and turmoyled , I suppose there is none to be found in our age . For being sometyme in excellent good health , and enioying very great strength of body , it is strange to recount howe not many yeeres since , to the great wonder of al that know thee , being thrice geuen ouer by the Phisitions , thrice thou reposedst thy life & safetie in the onely helpe of the heauenly Phisition , & at the length wast by hym restored to thy former health , but in such wise , that thou hast vtterly lost thine accustomed strength of body , with no lesse wonder of thy excellent dexteritie , & rare grauitie : that thou who before time haddest most strong & valiant legges , & feete almost as hard as brasse . art nowe growen so weake , that thou must be lyfted vp to thy horse backe by thy seruantes , or leanyng vpon their shoulders , art scarcely able to tread vpon the ground . Thy countrey almost at one tyme sawe thee both a lord , and a banyshed man : but so notwithstandyng , that thou seemedst to be nothyng at all blemished by thy banishment . There was neuer any almost of our countreymen , that stoode in lyke fauour of noble men and princes , and neuer any that susteyned lyke iniurie . And whereas not long before they striued in shewyng thee tokens of curtesie , afterward the same men consented in nothyng so muche , as in conspyring and laying their heades together howe to procure thy destruction . Of whom some sought meanes to take away thy lyfe , who before tyme had honoured thee the space of many yeeres with golde and precious stones , and many other large giftes , duryng the tyme of thy prosperous and fauourable fortune , and , whiche is most greeuous of al , to spoyle thee of thy freendes and clientes , and thy whole familie , by afflictyng them with sundry greeuous tormentes , and strange kyndes of death . But such as were of the more curteous sort , inuaded thy great patrimony , thy landes , thy people , thy houses , thy townes : insomuch as they that sawe thee not long before , and perceyued how suddeinely thou wast fallen from great wealth into extreame pouertie , wondred as it had been at some strange miracle of fortune . Some of thy freendes , as I haue said , are perished , & in those that remaine , their faith is decaied , & the goodwil of men , as that common maner is , flyeth away with prosperitie : so that thou art brought into a doubt which to bewaile first , either the death of thy freends that are peryshed , or the losse of their assurednesse that are liuing . Now in the middest of these troubles there happened vnto thee a most desperate and dangerous sickenesse , wherein thou wast brought so neare vnto death , that when euery man supposed thou couldest not escape , it was generally reported that thou wast dead . Which sickenesse , which pouertie , which heape of troubles , in that thou wast driuen out of thine owne countrey , and farre from thine owne house in a strange lande , and warre rounde about thee , and thou on euerye syde oppressed , gaue occasyon that in the meane whyle thou couldest haue no entercourse , eyther of letters , or conference with those thy frendes , whiche eyther thy vertue had purchased , or fortune had reserued . There was no extremitie wantyng , sauing imprisonment , and death : although we cannot say neyther , that thou wast quite free from imprisonment , whilest thy most faythful wyfe , and al thy sonnes , beyng part of thy bowelles , and thy daughters also were taken prisoners by thine enimies , and there was no comfort remayning vnto thee of so many chyldren : N●yther yet from death , whilst thou thy selfe striuedst euery day with death , and at that tyme also one of thy sonnes gaue vp his tender and giltlesse ghost in prison . To be shorte , we haue seene that fulfilled in thee , whiche we reade of two most excellent personagies , Caius Marius , and the great Pompeius , to wit , that fortune hath seuerally expressed in thee , and thy chyldren , what good and euyl she is able to do , and neuer mingle any prosperttie with aduersitie : whose flatteries in tymes past , although theu hast not casted so plentifully as many happie men haue done , notwithstandyng thou hast abidden her threates and force of late dayes , with so couragious and inuincible a mynde , that in this respect thou hast geuen occasion vnto many , who before hated thy name , to loue thee , and woonder at thee . For vertue hath this propertie , that it stirreth vp good men to loue it , and astunnisheth the euyl . Whiche propertie as it is common to euery vertue , so is it peculier especially to fortitude , whose tranquilitie and vprightnesse is the more acceptable , and lyght more conspicable among the troublesome turmoyles of fortune , and darkenesse of terrible thinges . For vnto me thou hast not onely heaped vp much new good wyl , vpon the auntient loue whiche I bare towardes thee , whiche I thought to haue been impossible , but hast also conuerted my quill , whiche made hast towardes another matter , to wryte this woorke in tyme not purposed , both that thou mightest beholde the countenance of thy mynde in my wrytinges , as it were in a lookyng glasse : and also if herein there were any thyng that seemed vnto thee nothyng fine , but rather rude and barbarous , and whiche in deede dyd not lyke thee , that in this manner thou order and take it : that yf it shal chaunce that fortune hereafter varrie with thee in any strange manner or deuice , whereof she hath great plentie , yea innumerable in store , that thou be not troubled at al with any hope . But being prouided for al chaunces , and redye for what soeuer may happen , thou mayest despyse both the sweete , and the sower , crying out most confidently these verses of Virgil agaynst them , O virgin , there is no newe or suddeyne shewe of troubles can aryse vnto me , I haue forethought vpon al matters , and forecast them alredie in my mynde . Neyther am I ignorant , that as in the bodyes of men , so also in their mindes that are affected with sundry passions , the medicines of woordes wyl seeme vnto many to be without effect . Notwithstandyng I knowe wel enough , that as the diseases of the minde are inuisible , so are there remedies inuisible also : For they that are seduced by false opinions , must be remedied by true perswasions , that they that fel by hearyng , may also ryse by hearyng . Moreouer , who so wyllingly offereth vnto his freende , beyng in neede , that whiche he hath to releeue hym withal , howe smal soeuer it be , he hath fulfilled the duetie of perfect freendshyp . For freendshyp weigheth the mynde , and not the thing , whiche though it be but smal , yet may it be an argument of great good wyl . For my part , as I wyshe vnto thee al honour , so haue I nothyng at this present more conuenient to geue thee : whiche yf thou thinke to be of any force , the commoditie of it , whiche maketh euery thyng to be regarded , shal sufficiently commend it . But if thou perceyue it to be of no force , notwithstandyng thy good wyl towardes me shal excuse it . And thou shalt come to reade it , as though those foure most famous and coosinne passions of the mynde , to wyt , hope , or desire and ioy , feare and sorowe , whiche the two sisters prosperitie and aduersitie brought foorth at equal byrthes , lay on eyther side most fiercely assaultyng the minde of man : howebeit reason , whiche gouerneth the cheefe castle , maketh answere vnto them al , and beyng furnished with her shielde and head peece , by her meanes and proper force , but specially being assisted with most myghtie power from heauen , defendeth of the weapons of the throngyng enimies . But I conceyue suche hope of thy wysedome , that thou canst soone iudge whiche part wyl haue the victorie . I wyl nowe holde thee no longer , but to the ende thou mightest vnderstand my purpose , it was needeful for me to wryte this epistle , as it were an argument to the booke : whiche yf thou cause to be set before the woorke , consyder thou of these both , that an ouerlong preface trouble not a short booke , none otherwyse then an ouer great head burdeneth a lytle body : For there is nothing wel fauoured , without due measure and proportion of the partes .