Letter 139: Chrysostom asks Theodore not to measure love by the number of letters.

You said that the greatest sign of our care for your affairs would be if a second letter from us came to your Splendor after the first. If we had enough people to serve us in this, we would send showers of letters to a man so good, gentle, and warmly devoted to us, a man who receives our letters with such desire. Since that is not possible, I ask your Splendor not to measure our love by the number of letters. Whether we are silent or writing, keep fixed the same judgment you had of our affection before. Remember that our long silence is caused not by laziness of character, but by the desolation of this place.

ΡΛΘʹ. Θεοδώρῳ Κονσουλαρίῳ Συρίας. Αὐτὸς μὲν ἔφης σημεῖον ποιεῖσθαι μέγιστον τοῦ μέλειν ἡμῖν τῶν σῶν, εἰ δευτέρα μετὰ τὴν προτέραν ἐπιστολὴ ἔλθοι πρὸς τὴν σὴν λαμπρότητα παρ' ἡμῶν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ εἰ τῶν εἰς τοῦτο διακονησομένων ἡμῖν εὐποροῦμεν, νιφάδας ἂν ἐπέμψαμεν γραμμάτων πρὸς ἄνδρα οὕτω χρηστὸν, καὶ ἐπιεικῆ, καὶ σφοδρὸν ἡμῶν ἐραστὴν, καὶ μετὰ τοσαύτης ἐπιθυμίας δεχόμενον ἡμῶν τὰς ἐπιστολάς. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔνι, παρακαλοῦμέν σου τὴν λαμπρότητα, μὴ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἀριθμῷ μετρεῖν ἡμῶν τὴν ἀγάπην, ἀλλὰ καὶ σιγώντων καὶ γραφόντων, ἥνπερ καὶ ἔμπροσθεν εἶχες περὶ αὐτῆς ψῆφον, ταύτην ἀκίνητον διατηρεῖν, λογιζόμενον ὡς τὴν σιγὴν ἡμῖν μακροτέραν, οὐχ ἡ τοῦ τρόπου ῥᾳθυμία, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ τόπου κατασκευάζει ἐρημία.