I n the matter of letters when I was vigorous . . . . From my earliest days I have paid but fitful attention to this duty and almost neglected it; and if I mistake not, there is no man who has written to his friends or answered their letters less often than myself, nor anyone1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have an opportunity of (sending) backwards and forwards . . . . to friends and companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nor do I think so, nor shall I ever complain. What then? Is not this often the case that one, who has long loved another, suddenly, whether from fickleness of character or by reason of the quantity of his new friends, gives up loving? You know that this has constantly occurred to quite a number ot people, but not to persons of our type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lucius Verus to Fronto
165 A.D.
To my master, greeting.2
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