Letter 24 (§6)

““Oh,” say you, “those stories have been droned to death in all the schools; pretty soon, when you reach the topic ‘On Despising Death,’ you will be telling me about Cato.” But why should I not tell you about Cato, how he read Plato’s book on that last glorious night, with a sword laid at his pillow? He had provided these two requisites for his last moments,—the first, that he might have the will to die, and the second, that he might have the means. So he put his affairs in order,—as well as one could put in order that which was ruined and near its end,—and thought that he ought to see to it that no one should have the power to slay or the good fortune to save Cato.”