Letter 150: Those colts of mine, whom I have led from the meadows of the Muses and given to you -- some were summoned by you,...

**To Modestus** (358–361) Among my colts, whom I raised in the meadows of the Muses and gave to you, some you see who were summoned by you, and others who came unsummoned. The former I count blessed for the honor you have shown them; the latter, for the longing they have shown toward you. For by rushing to you of their own accord, they make clear that they would rightly have been among those invited. You will, of course, look after all of them — the well-off, so that they may win distinction, and the poor, so that they too may gain some means. But you must show particular attention to those who appear not to have been deemed worthy of the honor, since for the invited, even if they say nothing, that distinction itself is no small thing; but for the others, a single word of encouragement — both to speak and to receive — would be consolation enough.

Μοδέστῳ. (358—361) Τῶν ἐμῶν πώλων, οὓς ἄγων ἐκ Μουσικῶν λειμώνων ἔδωκά σοι, τοὺς μὲν κεκλημένους ὑπὸ σοῦ, τοὺς δὲ ἀκλήτους ὁρᾷς. ὧν τοὺς μὲν εὐδαιμονίζω τῆς παρὰ σοῦ τιμῆς, τοὺς δὲ τοῦ περὶ δὲ πόθου. δηλοῦσι γὰρ οἷς αὐτόματοι τρέχουσιν, ὡς εἰκότως ἂν ἦσαν ἐν τοῖς κεκλημένοις. πάντων μὲν οὖν ἐπιμελήσῃ, τῶν μὲν εὐπόρων, ἵνα κτήσωνται δόξαν, τῶν δὲ πενήτων, ἵνα καὶ τούτοις χρήματα· πλέον δέ σοί τι δεικτέον περὶ τοὺς οὐ δοκοῦντας ἠξιῶσθαι τῆς τιμῆς, ὡς τοῖς μέν, κἂν σιγήσωσιν, οὐ μικρὸν ἐκεῖνο, τοῖς δ᾿ ἓν εἰς παραμυθίαν εἰπεῖν τε καὶ λαβεῖν.