To Aristaenetus. (360?)
I am sending you what you asked for, though not without misgivings. You always praise my work more highly than it deserves, and while I love you for it, I also worry that your kindness may lead others to expect more than I can deliver.
The speech I enclose was written quickly -- too quickly, perhaps -- but the occasion demanded speed, and I persuaded myself that what it lacks in polish it makes up for in energy. Read it with that in mind, and forgive the rough edges. If you find the argument sound and the structure clear, that will be enough. Elegance can be added later, if there is time; but there is never enough time, and so I send what I have.
Your own affairs, I trust, continue to prosper. You have the rare gift of making everyone around you better, and I know from long experience that wherever you are, things are likely to go well. Keep writing, and keep asking for my work -- the asking is itself a kindness, even when the result disappoints.
I am sending you what you asked for, though not without misgivings. You always praise my work more highly than it deserves, and while I love you for it, I also worry that your kindness may lead others to expect more than I can deliver.
The speech I enclose was written quickly -- too quickly, perhaps -- but the occasion demanded speed, and I persuaded myself that what it lacks in polish it makes up for in energy. Read it with that in mind, and forgive the rough edges. If you find the argument sound and the structure clear, that will be enough. Elegance can be added later, if there is time; but there is never enough time, and so I send what I have.
Your own affairs, I trust, continue to prosper. You have the rare gift of making everyone around you better, and I know from long experience that wherever you are, things are likely to go well. Keep writing, and keep asking for my work -- the asking is itself a kindness, even when the result disappoints.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.