Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 69 of 204
Philosophical Enigma · Passage 3
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1606 pp. 152–153
Latin
Et sic finaliter concludo, si hisce meis scriptis et admonitionibus cauti esse non vultis, habetote me, bene de vobis mereri cupientem, excusatum, feci fideliter, quantum licuit, sicut bonae conscientiae virum decet: si quaeritis quis, Cosmopolita sum: si me nostis, et boni ac honesti viri esse desideratis, tacebitis: si me non nostis, nolite de me inquirere, nulli mortalium enim, quamdiu vixero, plus a me revelabitur, quam hoc publico scripto factum est: credite mihi si non essem eiusmodi status ac conditionis homo, sicut sum, nil mihi solitaria vita foret iucundius, vel cum Diogene sub dolio delitescere: video enim omnia quae sunt, vanitatem esse, fraudem et avaritiam invaluisse, ubi omnia venalia sunt, et iniquitatem virtutem superasse. Futurae vitae meliora prae oculis video, hisce gaudeo: iam non miror ut antea feci, cur Philosophi habita tali medicina non curarunt abbreviare dies suos, quia omni Philosopho ita est prae oculis vita sequens, sicut in speculo apparet tibi tua propria facies: quod si tibi Deus dabit optatum finem, postea credes mihi, nec te revelabis mundo.
English
I therefore conclude at last: if you refuse to take care through these writings and admonitions of mine, excuse me, for I desire your benefit. I have faithfully done as much as was permitted, as befits a man of good conscience. If you ask who I am, I am a Cosmopolite. If you know me and wish to be good and honourable men, you will keep silent. If you do not know me, do not inquire about me. As long as I live, I shall reveal to no mortal more than I have done in this public writing. Believe me: were I not a man of the status and condition that I am, nothing would be more pleasant to me than a solitary life, or hiding beneath a tub with Diogenes. I see that all existing things are vanity, that fraud and avarice have prevailed where everything is for sale, and that iniquity has overcome virtue. I see the better things of the life to come before my eyes and rejoice in them. I no longer wonder, as I once did, why the philosophers, possessing such a medicine, were unconcerned about shortening their days. The life to come lies before every philosopher’s eyes as your own face appears to you in a mirror. If God grants you the desired end, you will then believe me and will not reveal yourself to the world.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Philosophical Enigma · Philosophical Enigma · Passage 3
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the Twelve Treatises, Epilogue, Enigma, Parable, Dialogue of Mercury and Treatise of Sulphur, with original preliminaries, John French’s historical English address and its separately labelled modernisation, 101 annotations and the complete study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
The Twelve Treatises and their concluding texts follow the selected 1606 Herzog August Bibliothek witness. The Dialogue uses the 1607 Cologne printing; the author’s preface and Alsted epigram use Frankfurt 1611. Sulphur uses the 1616 Munich and Rome witnesses. John French’s 1650 address is separately identified as historical English reception.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical Latin texts and John French’s 1650 English address are in the public domain. The new translation, modernisation and editorial apparatus were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.