I think many people would have found wisdom if they hadn't already convinced themselves they were wise. They lie to themselves about parts of their character and ignore other parts completely. Don't think other people's flattery hurts us more than our own self-flattery does. Who has the courage to tell himself the truth? Even someone surrounded by a crowd of smooth-talking admirers is usually his own biggest flatterer. So please, if you have any cure that could stop this back-and-forth thinking of mine, help me find peace of mind. I know these mental swings aren't dangerous and won't cause serious harm. To put it exactly: I'm not caught in a storm, but I do have seasickness. Take this problem away from me, whatever it is, and help someone who's struggling even though land is in sight.
I fancy that many men would have arrived at wisdom had they not believed themselves to have arrived there already, had they not purposely deceived themselves as to some parts of their character, and passed by others with their eyes shut: for you have no grounds for supposing that other people's flattery is more ruinous to us than our own. Who dares to tell himself the truth? Who is there, by however large a troop of caressing courtiers he may be surrounded, who in spite of them is not his own greatest flatterer? I beg you, therefore, if you have any remedy by which you could stop this vacillation of mine, to deem me worthy to owe my peace of mind to you. I am well aware that these oscillations of mind are not perilous and that they threaten me with no serious disorder: to express what I complain of by an exact simile, I am not suffering from a storm, but from sea-sickness. Take from me, then, this evil, whatever it may be, and help one who is in distress within sight of land.