Letter 184: Nothing from you is small, precisely because it comes from you.

To Demetrius. (360) Nothing from you is small, precisely because it comes from you. And these latest gifts are positively grand -- at least if one measures grandeur by the pleasure they bring. Clearly the Persian king was once feasted on such things, since your region was part of his empire. And if your land had belonged to the Greeks while those delicacies remained Persian, I think he would have launched a campaign to conquer your territory rather than marched on Athens for the sake of figs. But let the gifts be small in themselves, if you insist -- their greatness comes from the sender, and they are not made small by their nature but great by his character. To show that I mean what I say, I have sent you two of my own speeches in return. They are far from beautiful, but you will not think them bad -- such is the power of friendship.

Δημητρίῳ. (360) Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲν τῶν παρὰ σοῦ μικρόν, ἐπεὶ καὶ παρὰ σοῦ. ταυτὶ δὲ τὰ ἥκοντα καὶ μεγάλα τῷ γε τὸ μέγεθος κρίνοντι τῇ ἡδονῇ. καὶ δῆλον ὡς πάλαι τὸν Πέρσην εἱστία τούτοις ἡ ὑμε- τέρα μέρος οὖσα τῆς ἀρχῆς. εἰ δέ γε ἥδε μὲν ἦν τῶν Ἑλλή- νων, τοῦ Περσοῦ δὲ ἐκεῖνα, ἔπειτ’ ἐκεῖνος ἐγεύσατο τούτων. δοκεῖ ἄν μοι στρατεῦσαι ἐπὶ κτήσει τῆς ὑμετέρας μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπ’ Ἀθήνας ὑπὲρ τῶν σύκων. ἀλλ’ ἔστω γε, εἰ βούλει, τῇ φύσει μικρά, τὸ γὰρ μέγεθος αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ πέμποντος, καὶ οὐ δι’ ἐκείνην μικρὰ μᾶλλον διὰ τοῦτον μεγάλα. ὅτι δὲ οὕτω φρονῶ, πέπομφά σοι καὶ αὐτὸς δύο λόγω τῶν ἐμῶν, καλὼ μὲν ἥκιστα, σοὶ δὲ οὐ δόξοντε κακώ· τοιοῦτον ἡ φιλία.