Letter 71: Even a short letter from you is enough to make me very happy.
To Commander Gregory.
Even a short letter from you is enough to make me very happy. Since I was truly pleased by what you wrote, I send you a letter of equal length — because in my judgment, the friendly greetings of comrades should be repaid not by the length of one's letter but by the depth of one's goodwill.
Human translation — Tertullian Project
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Γρηγορίῳ ἡγεμόνι]
Ἐμοὶ καὶ γράμμα παρὰ σοῦ μικρὸν ἀρκεῖ μεγάλης ἡδονῆς πρόφασιν μνηστεῦσαι. καὶ τοίνυν, οἷς ἔγραψας ἄγαν ἡσθεὶς, ἀντιδίδωμι καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ἴσην, οὐ τῷ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν μήκει μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ τῆς εὐνοίας μεγέθει τὰς τῶν ἑταίρων φιλίας ἐκτίνεσθαι δεῖν κρίνων.
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