Letter 165: A letter from Musaeus is worth more to Procopius than Croesus's talents.

Learned Palladius has arrived bringing your letter as pure gold. Even if he had carried Croesus's talents to me, I would not have looked at him with such kindly eyes. Different people are proud of different things: the Lydian of gold, the Spartan of his spear, Arion of strings and music. For me, the solemn treasure is the sight of you, your letters, and anything it is possible to enjoy from you. So in justice I owe the young man a reward, and I would rightly be ashamed not to pay it. The reward is not, by Zeus, gold or Indian stones; I am not rich in those, and the young man has not come hunting them. Nor is it beauty of words; I am not fertile in Muses, and I do not luxuriate in Attic gifts, for those have fallen to happy children. But if you want to consider what my gift is, it is goodwill and eagerness. These are in my power, Demosthenes says; the rest Fortune and the Muses distribute as they think best.

Μουσαίωι Ὁ λογιώτατος Παλλάδιος χρυσὸν ὅλον ἧκεν ἄγων τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπιστολήν, καὶ εἴγε μοι τὰ Κροίσου κεκόμικε τάλαντα, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως εὐμενέσιν εἶδον αὐτὸν ὀφθαλμοῖς. ἄλλοις μὲν γὰρ ἄλλος μέγα φρονεῖ, ὁ Λυδὸς χρυσῷ ὁ Σπαρτιάτης τῷ δόρατι, χορδαῖς Ἀρίων καὶ κρούσμασιν, ἐμοὶ δὲ σεμνολόγημα σή τε θέα καὶ γράμματα σὰ καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ὑμῶν ἀπολαύειν ἐξῇ· ὥστε τῷ νέῳ καὶ μισθὸν ἡμεῖς ἐκ τῶν δικαίων ὀφείλομεν, ὃν οὐκ ἀποδιδόντες εἰκότως ἂν αἰσχυνοίμεθα. ὁ δὲ μισθὸς οὐ μὰ Δία χρυσὸς οὐδὲ λίθοι τινὲς Ἰνδικαί· οὔτε γὰρ τούτων πλουτῶ, οὔτε τούτων θηρεύσων ὁ νέος ἀφῖκται ἀλλ' οὐδὲ λόγων κάλλος· οὐ γὰρ Μουσῶν εὔφορος ἐγώ, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐξ Ἀττικῆς ἐναβρύνομαι, ταῦτα γὰρ εὐδαιμόνων εὐτύχησαν παῖδες· ἀλλ' εἰ τὴν ἐμὴν δόσιν ἥτις ἐστὶν ἐθέλεις σκοπεῖν, εὔνοιά τε καὶ προθυμία· τούτων γὰρ κύριος ἐγώ, Δημοσθένης φησίν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων τύχη καὶ Μοῦσαι πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν αὐταῖς τὴν δωρεὰν πρυτανεύουσαι.