Pliny, Letter 7.28

In praise of friends

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Ep. 7.28.1Ais quōsdam apud tē reprehendisse, tamquam amīcōs meōs ex omnī occāsiōne ultrā modum laudem.You say that certain people have criticised me in your presence, on the grounds that I praise my friends beyond measure on every occasion. Ep. 7.28.2Agnōscō crīmen, amplector etiam.I acknowledge the charge, I even embrace it. Ep. 7.28.2Quid enim honestius culpā benignitātis?For what is more honourable than the fault of kindness? Ep. 7.28.2Quī sunt tamen istī, quī amīcōs meōs melius nōrint?Who are these people, though, who know my friends better than I do? Ep. 7.28.2Sed, ut nōrint, quid invident mihi fēlīcissimō errōre?But granting that they do know them, why do they begrudge me a most happy mistake? Ep. 7.28.2Ut enim nōn sint tālēs quālēs ā mē praedicantur, ego tamen beātus quod mihi videntur.For even if my friends are not such as I proclaim them, I am still fortunate in that they seem so to me. Ep. 7.28.3Igitur ad aliōs hanc sinistram dīligentiam cōnferant;So let them turn this perverse diligence on others; Ep. 7.28.3nec sunt parum multī, quī carpere amīcōs suōs iūdicium vocant.and there are plenty who call carping at their friends judgement.

Ep. 7.28.3Mihi numquam persuādēbunt ut meōs amārī ā mē nimium putem.They will never persuade me to think that my friends are loved by me too much. Ep. 7.28.3Valē.Farewell.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×2, purpose clauses ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (63 words)

āiō (defective)	say, affirm; ut aiunt: as they say
quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron.	a certain, certain
apud, prep, with acc.	among, with
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
reprehendō, -ere, -hendī, -hēnsum	blame, criticise
tamquam (adv., conj.)	as, just as; as if
amīcus, -ī, m.	friend
meus, -a, -um	my, mine
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)	out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
omnis, -e	all, every
occāsiō, -ōnis, f.	chance, opportunity
ultrā (prep. + acc.)	beyond
modus, -ī, m.	way, manner
laus, laudis f.	praise, glory
agnōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus, recognize
crīmen, -inis n.	charge, accusation; crime
amplector, -plectī, -plexus sum	embrace, hug; welcome, adopt
etiam, adv.	and now, also, too, even
quis, quid, interrog. pron.	who? which? what?
enim, conj.	for
honestus, -a, -um	respected, honourable
culpa, -ae f.	fault, blame
benignitās, -tātis, f.	kindness
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
tamen, adv.	however, yet, nevertheless
iste, ista, istud, dem. pron.	that of yours, that
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
bene, adv.	well; successfully
nōscō, -ere, nōvī, nōtum	get to know (perf. nōvī: know)
sed, conj.	but
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
invideō, -ēre, invīdī, invīsum (+ dat.)	envy, be jealous of
ego, meī, pers. pron.	I
fēlīx, -īcis	fortunate, lucky, happy
error, -ōris m.	wandering; mistake, error
nōn, adv.	not
tālis, -e	such
quālis, -e	of what sort? what kind of?
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
praedicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	proclaim; boast of
beātus, -a, -um	happy, blessed
quod, conj.	that, in that, because
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
igitur, conj.	therefore
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
alius, -a, -ud	another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
sinister, -tra, -trum	left
dīligentia, -ae, f.	care, diligence, industry
cōnferō, cōnferre, contulī, conlātus	bring together; grant, confer; sē cōnferre, to betake oneself, make one's way
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
parum (comp. minus, superl. minimē)	too little; minimē: least, not at all
multus, -a, -um	much, great; plur., many
carpō, -ere, -sī, -tus	pluck
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
iūdicium, -ī n.	trial, court; judgment
vocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	call, summon
numquam, adv.	never
persuādeō, -suādēre, -suāsi, -suāsus	persuade, prevail upon, induce
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	love
nimium (adv.)	too, too much
putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	think
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus	be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail

Pliny, Epistulae VII. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.