Letter 3052: The obligations of friendship are not burdens but privileges.
The obligations of friendship are not burdens but privileges. When I exert myself on your behalf, I am not paying a debt but investing in a bond that enriches us both. Our correspondence is the thread that holds this bond together across the distances that separate us. I have attended to the matters you mentioned in your last letter and will send a full report when the situation is clearer. In the meantime, know that your interests are safe in my hands.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
Related Letters
Ambrose, Bishop, to the most merciful prince and most blessed Emperor Theodosius.
1. Would that you, giving earnest heed to the word of God, did not require counsel of mine to support you under whatsoever offenses may arise! Would that your comfort rather came from Him by whom we also are comforted; who has foretold not only the good things which He designs to give to those who are holy and faithful, but also the evil things ...
Though I'm laid low by a serious fever, I couldn't deny you the courtesy of a letter without seeming to neglect my...
If you imagine that being tall makes you greater than other people, the giant Nimrod far surpassed you, as did the...
"The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1).