Letter 2083: Many people have asked me for letters of introduction, but the merits of some and the importunity of others have...

Many have asked of me a letter of recommendation, but to some I have granted this favor on the strength of their merits, to others on the strength of their entreaties. Yet I do not fear that this distinction should be unknown to you, since you, in forming a judgment about these men, share a common standard. You will therefore grant, in certain cases, pardon to that modesty of mine which yielded to those who begged, but you will follow that judgment which you know to hold both opinions about each man individually. I think it can easily be discerned from these words in what rank I reckon our son Attalus, a man of distinction. For that free and open discrimination has safely been entrusted to him, who was not among the number of those who pressed me. Therefore, in your name and in mine, embrace the friendship of one who hastens toward you, so that the regard of good men may be to him a source of profit, and a source of grief to the wicked, because they are not loved alike. Farewell.