Letter 236: If I were able to share in the journey and the other exertions with Eustochius, you would certainly have me in...

To Clearchus. (360?) If I were able to share in the journey and the other exertions with Eustochius, you would certainly have me in person instead of my letter. But since travel is impossible for me -- you know the reason -- I ask you to be as helpful to this man as you would have been with me standing there. Consider that you will not only be doing me a favor but also gaining a friend for yourself. I was glad when I gained him as a friend, not only on account of his eloquence and his command of the law -- in both of which no man surpasses him -- but because no difficulty in the world is so great that it would not seem the easiest thing in the world to him when a friend demands it. Or rather, even if the friend needs something but hesitates to ask, Eustochius gives himself to the task of his own accord. If he were coming to you now from some other mission, I would need to recount his earlier feats for you. As it is, the very business that brings him, and in which he needs your help, can serve as a sample of his character. Do not be surprised that although I have many friends in your city, I have written to you alone. The matter does not require many people offering prayers, but one man who knows how to get things done. And you are that man who knows how to get things done. The ability to act has followed naturally upon the will to act, and it was always there but has now grown greater -- there are, I assure you, people who report this. Send our friend back ready to tell us that what he heard from us about you was less than the truth.

Κλεάρχῳ. (360?) Εἰ μὲν οἷός τε ἦν καὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης σπουδῆς Εὐστοχίῳ κοινωνῆσαι, πάντως ἄν με εἶχες ἀντὶ τῶν ἐμῶν γραμ- μάτων· ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔστι μοι κινεῖσθαι, δι’ ὃ δέ, ἐπίστασαι, δέομαί σου γενέσθαι τοιοῦτον εἰς τοῦτον, οἷος ἂν ἐγένου παρ- όντος ἐμοῦ. νόμιζε δὲ μὴ μόνον ἐμοὶ δώσειν χάριν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς κτήσεσθαι φίλον. ὃν καὶ ἐγὼ κτησάμενος συνήσθην ἐμαυτῷ οὐ μόνον τῶν τε λόγων εἵ εκα καὶ τῶν νόμων, ἐν οἷς ἀμφοτέροις οὐδενὸς ἁνὴρ ὕστερος, ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ τῶν ὄντων χα- λεπῶν οὐδὲν οὕτω χαλεπὸν ὡς μὴ τῷδε φανῆναι ῥᾷστον ἐπι- τάττοντος φίλου, μᾶλλον δέ, κἂν ὁ φίλος χρῄζῃ μέν, ὀκνῇ δὲ ἐπιτάττειν, αὐτὸς αὑτὸν δίδωσι τοῖς ἔργοις. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀπ’ ἄλλης ἀφῖκτο νῦν ὡς ὑμᾶς, ἄθλους ἂν ἴδει σοι διηγεῖσθαι προτέρους, νῦν δ’ αὐτὸ δι’ ὅπερ ἥκει καὶ πρὸς ὃ δεῖ σε βοη- θεῖν ἔστω σοι δεῖγμα τῶν τρόπων. μὴ θαυμάσῃς δὲ εἰ πολλοὶ μὲν ἐκεῖ μοι φίλοι, σοὶ δὲ ἐπέσταλκα μόνῳ· τὸ πρᾶγμα γὰρ οὐ πολλῶν συνευχομένων, ἀλλ’ ἑνὸς δεῖται πράττειν εἰδό- 5 τος. σὺ δὲ οὗτος ὁ πράττειν εἰδώς, τῷ δὲ βούλεσθαι τὸ δύ- νασθαι καλῶς ποιοῦν ἠκολούθηκεν ὑπάρχον μὲν καὶ πάλαι, νῦν δὲ ηὐξημένον· εἰσὶ γάρ, εἰσὶν· οἱ μηνύοντες. ἀπό- πεμπε δὴ τὸν ἑταῖρον ὧν ἤκουσε παρ’ ἡμῶν ἀγγελοῦντα πλείω.