Letter 6006: Philosophy has nothing to teach a man who has already surpassed his teachers.

To Boethius, from Ennodius. Philosophy has nothing to teach a man who has already surpassed his teachers. The silence of the ancients, once they had said all there was to say, is the model I should follow. But I cannot keep quiet when affection demands a hearing. I write to you not as a teacher — heaven forbid — but as a friend who takes delight in your gifts and wants to be counted among those who recognized your worth before the world confirmed it. Your learning is already the talk of Italy. What remains is for you to remember that even learned men owe letters to their friends. I await your reply with the eagerness of a man who knows the quality of what he is about to receive. Farewell.

VI. BOETIO ENNODIVS. Par quidem fuerat unis litteris magnitudinis tuae respondisse simpliciter nec geminare debere conloquia semel obnoxium: sed cautione ad hoc, non inscitia deuolutus sum. de utrisque enim epistulis una obsequitur debito, altera praestatur affectui. credite, nefas putaui non cum faenore suo restituere quod mens uenerabilis prima contulerat. dulciora sunt ante exemplum bona diligentiae, nec tantum habet uirium aut genii 1 malitiae L patrocinii T 4 inclyti BTV (sed y B corr.) 1 principiis BlL, principia V 6 domina L* adcedit B 9 eripnet B grandiorum fort . comulum praextuleris B 12 notitiae] etiam notitiae B 15 dioina ex dioitia T m. » nos cara] natura b et tn. ree . s. I. B 16 mihi L 17 perscriptum B 18 diffunderẽnt B YL 22 siplicit L 28 scitia L 24 preetatnr LV affec- hi. B 25 pntatjj T1 faenore V, foenore L, fenore BT qui amicitiarum callem secundus ingreditur: summatim sibi gratiam non potest uindicare cui in amore forma praestatur: inpudentiae est non respondere caritati, cum manifestet res bene orta uirtutem. haec in festinatione perlatoris celer scripsi: latius posthac uerba diffundam nec maciem ingenii mei, dum merita uestra respiciuntur, aspiciam, si tamen desideriis meis tabellarum frequentiam commodetis. domine mi, salutationis uberrimae seruitia dependens quaeso, ut memoriam proximitatis uos habere resignent promulgata sine intermissione conloquia.