I second this. But don't take my word for it. Here is 5.24 (one of my favorites) translated by Long:
"Think of the universal substance, of which thou hast a
very small portion; and of universal time, of which a short
and indivisible interval has been assigned to thee; and of
that which is fixed by destiny, and how small a part of it
thou art."
And by Hays:
"Remember:
Matter. How tiny your share of it.
Time. How brief and fleeting your allotment of it.
Fate. How small a role you play in it."
Very diffeernt styles but I'm not sure how I would choose one over the other. I don't know which is closer to the original.
Actually, I'm not even sure that's a consideration I'm interested in. I might be more interested in a translation that most efficiently communicates the intended message.
A literal translation, the Stoics having doubtless written in formal Latin, it being so concise, might appear more as riddle than prose to English speakers.
