Letter 522: I love myself, and that is why I love you, and I freely admit it.

To Hierax. (356) For I love myself, and on this account I love you and acknowledge that I love you, since whoever knows you and does not love you seems to me to hate himself. Having praised the eager impulse of the Cyzicenes, I now find fault with their change of mind. For to look upon the swan is a fine thing, but to yield place to the jackdaw is not a fine thing, but it is plainly the line of Aristophanes: Theognis in the place of Aeschylus. The letter, in reply to such things as you describe, has not arrived; but should it come, you will see your friend, and your wife too — whom I count blessed, because you take care of her. For the things she had need of have been accomplished, since the boy found another ally.

Ἱέρακι. (356) Φιλῶ γὰρ ἐμαυτὸν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο σὲ φιλῶ καὶ φιλεῖν ὁμολογῶ, ὡς ὅστις σε εἰδὼς οὐ φιλεῖ, δοκεῖ μοι μισεῖν αὑτόν. Κυζικηνῶν δὲ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐπαινέσας μέμφομαι τὴν μεταβολήν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὸν κύκνον ἰδεῖν καλόν, τὸ δὲ τῷ κολοιῷ δοῦναι χώραν οὐ καλόν, ἀλλ’ ἀτεχνῶς τὸ Ἀριστοφάνους· ὁ Θέογνις ἀντ’ Αἰσχύλου. γράμματα δὲ πρὸς οἷα οἷα φῄς οὐχ ἧκεν, εἰ δ’ ἔλθοι, τὸν φίλον ὄψει, τῇ γυναικὶ δέ, ἥν, ὅτι αὐτῆς ἐπιμελῇ, μακαρίζω. πέπρακται γὰρ ὧν ἔχρῃζε τοῦ παιδὸς εὑρόντος ἕτερον σύμμαχον.