Laudator Temporis Acti

Cicero, Letters to His Brother Quintus 3.9.1-2 (tr. W. Glynn Williams):

The result of the trial, disgraceful and pernicious as it was, I bore with unruffled equanimity. And that was a blessing, which now, when all is done, redounds to my advantage, in that I am not in the least disturbed by these evils of the Republic, and the unbridled excesses of shameless men, which used previously to break my heart. For anything more corrupt than the men and the times of to-day cannot be conceived.

And so, since no pleasure can be got out of politics, I don't see why I should fret myself; I find a joy in literature and my favourite pursuits, in the leisure of my country houses, but most of all in our boys.

exitum iudici foedum et perniciosum levissime tuli. quod quidem bonum mihi nunc denique redundat, ut his malis reipublicae licentiaque audacium, qua ante rumpebar, nunc ne movear quidem. nihil est enim perditius his hominibus, his temporibus.

itaque, ex republica quoniam nihil iam voluptatis capi potest, cur stomacher, nescio. litterae me, et studia nostra et otium villaeque delectant, maximeque pueri nostri.