Letter 5061: You have been silent for a long time, but I must not imitate such an example.
You have been silent for a long time, but I must not imitate such an example. Therefore I return to our customary exchange and offer you the greeting you have denied me. A true friend does not repay silence with silence -- he overcomes it with words. I trust there is a good reason for your absence from our correspondence, and I await your explanation with patience.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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