Letter 4014: Things that are often given with modest means gain a value beyond their cost whenever they flow from a generous heart.
Ennodius of Pavia→Faustus|c. 504 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
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From: Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To: Faustus [Faustus Niger]
Date: ~503 AD
Context: A letter to Faustus reflecting on the multiplied value of frequently given gifts — what is offered often and with modest means gains worth through the generosity of the giver's spirit.
Ennodius to Faustus.
Things that are often given with modest means gain a value beyond their cost whenever they flow from a generous heart. The gift that is repeated is never diminished; it is multiplied.
I apply this principle to our correspondence. My letters are poor in style but rich in intention, and their frequency — which another man might find burdensome — is my way of saying that no single letter can contain what I owe you.
Accept them as they are: imperfect offerings from a friend who would give more if he could. Farewell.
XIIII. ENNODIVS FAVSTO.
Quae saepe mediocriter gratis inpensa sunt quotiens exhibentur
uerba coniunctis, quicquid fauori obsecutum est sereno
mancipetur affectui. non depictis amorem mentitur alloquiis
qui perlatori caro reddenda dominis scripta conmittit. in sublimis
et magnifici uiri Panfroni mei conmendatione ore feriato mens
dictat epistolam. nescio enim in quale culmen merita apud
me uiri, quem sum praefatus, extollam, in quo linguae macies
debitum pectoris nequit exprimere. sed abdicandum esset mihi,
etiam si subpeteret, facundiae lenocinium, quia pauper sermo
uberem diligentiam rectius confitetur et si eleuamus per effusas
paginas illos, quos arcana nesciunt, iure tribuenda amantibus
in artum tabella concluditur. causam ergo modici sermonis
elocutus foederatum fratrem quam quam paucis uerbis insinuo,
tamen multis obsequiis, ut iutus magnitudine uestra, in negotio
suo circumstrepentium aliquando uideatur superasse conmenta.
quod restat, famulantem salutationem exhibens me ualere
significo, si tamen prospera uestra certis indiciis mihi dispensatio
superna concedat.
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From:Ennodius, deacon and literary figure in Pavia
To:Faustus [Faustus Niger]
Date:~503 AD
Context:A letter to Faustus reflecting on the multiplied value of frequently given gifts — what is offered often and with modest means gains worth through the generosity of the giver's spirit.
Ennodius to Faustus.
Things that are often given with modest means gain a value beyond their cost whenever they flow from a generous heart. The gift that is repeated is never diminished; it is multiplied.
I apply this principle to our correspondence. My letters are poor in style but rich in intention, and their frequency — which another man might find burdensome — is my way of saying that no single letter can contain what I owe you.
Accept them as they are: imperfect offerings from a friend who would give more if he could. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.