Letter 8009: The public interest is well served by your appointment to greater responsibilities.
I would have wished to write to you earlier, but, with many people coming and going, the writer's choice must select a trustworthy opportunity. You have received the reason for my somewhat tardy attention; and if it has satisfied your mind, you will deign to take care that your replies too, entrusted to suitable bearers, may reach me as well.
35. To John.
That I write to you late is an indication of a tenacious friendship, whose memory is proved by attentions renewed after an interval. I myself interpret your silence in no other way. For I am not seeking the courtesy of the pen, but, assured of your good faith, I do not doubt your affection even when it is unspoken. But I fear that this view may counsel you to a neglect of writing, and that, untroubled in your reliance on my judgment, you may omit these offices of friendship. I therefore urge and beseech you to consider rather that part which brings favor to constancy, not the one which promises pardon for rarity. Farewell.
36. To Quintilianus.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Scribere ad te ante voluissem, sed commeantibus multis fidam occasionem debet
excerpere scribentis electio. accepisti | causam tardioris officii; quae si animo tuo 11
satisfecit, curare dignaberis, ut ad me quoque responsa tua idoneis commissa per-
veniant.
20 XXXV.
AD lOHANNEM. F
Quod sero ad te scribo, amicitiae tenacis indicium est, cuius memoria repetitis
ex intervallo probatur officiis. ipse quoque silentium tuum non aliter interpretor. nam
tisi stili honorificentiam quaero, certus fidei tuae etiam de tacito amore non dubito.
25 sed vereor, ne ista sententia tibi suadeat neglegentiam scriptionis et haec amicitiae
munia iudicii mei securus omittas. hortor igitur quaesoque, ut illam potius cogites
partem, quae adsiduitati gratiam parit, non quae promittit veniam raritati. vale.
XXXVI.
AD QVINTILIANVM. /I
Revision history
- 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import
Initial corpus import from modern symmachus retranslated v1.
Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://archive.org/details/qaureliisymmach00seecgoog
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