Letter 61: To the Presbyter Archibius,
To the Presbyter Archibius,
I did not ignore your two recent letters. I wrote back without delay and gave my reply to the deeply devout presbyter Eusebius. But the letter was held up: winter weather kept the ships in harbor, warning of a coming storm and bidding sailors and pilots to wait.
So I discharged my debt for the moment -- not in order to stop being a debtor, but to increase what I owe. For this is the nature of the obligation of friendship: it grows many times greater every time you pay it. Those who try to honor the laws of friendship only increase the power of its love, blowing sparks into a flame and kindling an ever-greater warmth, while everyone caught in that fire strives to outdo the other in affection.
Accept this defense, my dear friend. Forgive the delay. And send me a letter telling me how you are.
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