Letter 9008: If I begin to sing your praises after the way you have sung mine, I am afraid you will fancy that I am merely...

Pliny the YoungerAugurinus|c. 107 AD|Pliny the Younger
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To Augurinus.

If I begin to sing your praises after the way you have sung mine, I am afraid you will fancy that I am merely returning the compliment and not saying what I really think. Well, I must risk that, for I consider all your writings are most charming, especially those in which you refer to myself. And this comes about for one and the same reason, for you are at your best when you are writing about your friends; and I, as I read, think you write best when you refer to me. Farewell.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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