Vergerio, de ingenuis moribus et liberalibus adulescentiae studiis, V:
“Therefore, we should all consider our own natural ability at our own prompting, or, if such consideration is not possible because of one’s age, our parents and others to whom we are dear should turn their attention to this; and we should then exercise our industry and totally absorb ourselves in those pursuits which we are most inclined to by nature. Indeed, those especially who possess liberal intellectual talent should not be allowed to waste away in idle leisure or to be wrapped up in illiberal business.”
Principio igitur erit unicuique suum ingenium per se spectandum aut, si minus per aetatem nobis perpendere licebit, parentes ceterique quibus curae erimus animadvertere debebunt, et in quas res natura proni aptique fuerimus, eo potissimum studia nostra conferri et in eis totos versari conveniet. Maxime vero qui sunt liberale ingenium a natura consecuti, sinendi non sunt aut inerti otio torpere aut illiberalibus implicari negotiis.
More great stuff. However or wherever did you find this?
(And don’t say “by googling Roman sex acts”)
The text is in the I Tatti Renaissance Library’s ‘Humanist Educational Treatises,’ but as far as I can tell, there isn’t any other (practical) way to get your hands on it, as is more generally true of a lot of Renaissance texts. In fact, for just that reason, I think that the ITRL series may be the most valuable ongoing publishing projects; Loebs are convenient, but both the ancient texts and translations are fairly ready-to-hand for most of the big writings from antiquity, but even the bare texts of Renaissance authors are tough to find, and you can just forget about translations!
This almost sounds like an advertisement for the series!
This is coming from the guy who started the ‘My First Loeb’ craze?
But you know, if HUP wants to start cutting some checks and sending them this way…
Ha! Let’s get that money rolling.
Cancel that! I just remembered the whole punchline of this post: sinendi non sunt […] illiberalibus implicari negotiis.