Letter 517: I write to you often, and I rather wish you would not write back.

To Anatolius. I write to you often, and I rather wish you would not write back. That would give me the right to complain about you, which matters enormously to me -- the pleasure of having a grievance to pursue. On the other hand, I would not actually want you to ignore my requests, so do oblige me. What am I asking? As Demosthenes says: treat the man who delivers this letter as well as you can. You will be doing a kindness to a friend of mine, and you will gain a friend who knows how to express gratitude. That, I imagine, matters more to you than making money from other people.

Ἀνατολίῳ. (356) Ἐγὼ σοὶ πολλάκις ἐπιστέλλων βουλοίμην ἂν σὲ μὴ γρά- φειν ἐμοί. τοῦτο γάρ μοι δώσει σοῦ κατηγορεῖν, ὃ περὶ παν- τὸς ἐμοί, τὸ σὲ διώκειν ἔχειν. οὐ μὴν ἔτ᾿ ἂν βουλοίμην σε μὴ ποιεῖν ἃ ἂν κελεύω σε ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάνυ ποιεῖ τί οὖν κελεύω; φησὶ Δημοσθένης. παρ’ οἱ, τὰ γράμματα δέχῃ, τοῦτον ποιεῖν ὅ τι ἔχεις ἀγαθόν. καὶ γὰρ εἰς ἡμέτερον φίλον εὐεργέτης ἴσῃ καὶ κτήσῃ φίλον ἐπαινεῖν εἰδότα. τοῦτο δὲ σοὶ δήπου μέλει ἢ τὸ κερδαίνειν ἑτέροις.