Letter 4020: The virtue of diligence is exercised and strengthened through the regular discipline of correspondence.
Ennodius to Julianus, the Illustrious.
The virtue of diligence is exercised and strengthened through the regular discipline of correspondence. A man who writes faithfully trains himself in faithfulness; one who neglects his letters trains himself in neglect.
I write to you in this spirit: as an exercise in the virtue I aspire to, and as a reminder that you too should practice it. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
XX. ENNODIVS IVLIANO V. L
Exercetur bonum diligentiae scriptione multiplici: linguae
enim indicio animorum secreta panduntur. adsiduis curam
inpendit adloquiis qui otium amore commutat. haec sunt officia,
per quae tacitus innotescit affectus. familiaris perlator, nisi
reddendas culmini uestro paginas accepisset, me oblitum reuerentiae
debitae testaretur. nescio enim esse caritatis neglegens
nec partam labore gratiam quieti seruiens effugare. multa
debeo uerba foederi, sed ad breuitatem cogit epistola. uale,
mi domine, honorem salutati accipiens et circa me adultam
serua dignationem. sic bono in medium adscitus reipublicae
de felicitatis tuae diuturnitate gratuleris.
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