Letter 7028: You say that certain persons have found fault with me in your presence, on the ground that I never lose an...
To Septicius.
You say that certain persons have found fault with me in your presence, on the ground that I never lose an opportunity of extravagantly praising my friends. Well, I plead guilty, and I am proud to do so. For what can be more honourable to a man than to be charged with an excess of good nature? Who are they who profess to know my friends better than I do, and, if they do know them better, why should they grudge me so happy a delusion ? Even though my friends are not all my fancy paints them, still I am to be congratulated that they appear to be so in my eyes. So let these good people - and I am sure there are not many of them - who think it shows good judgment to carp at their friends, transfer their malignant zeal to others, they will never persuade me into thinking that I love my friends too well. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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