Letter 10: To an Unknown Person, Begging the Favor of a Letter.
Letter 7
To an Unknown Person, Begging the Favor of a Letter.
The faith and piety of souls, no doubt, remain, but this should be made known by the evidence of a letter, in order that an increase of affection may be gained by such mutual courtesy. For just as a fertile field cannot bring forth abundant fruits, if its cultivation has been neglected, and the good qualities of soil are lost through the indolence of one who rests, instead of working, so I think that the love and kindly feelings of the mind grow feeble, unless those who are absent are visited, as if present, by means of a letter.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
Related Letters
Know this: those who discipline you are not your enemies, and those who flatter you are not your friends.
Full of hope since you announced your forthcoming visit, I'm putting the spur to those already hurrying, and I ask...
To Auxentius [a childhood friend with whom Synesius was ending a quarrel].
The person who sins in full knowledge of it seems to me better off than the one who sins without knowing.
If the opportunity to write came often enough, my will would never fail to match it.