[101] Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Κληδόνιον πρεσβύτερον ἐπιστολὴ πρώτη
[102] Πρὸς Κληδόνιον πρεσβύτερον ἐπιστολὴ δευτέρα
Ep. LIV.
On Laconicism. To be laconic is not merely, as you suppose, to write few words, but to say a great deal in few words. Thus I call Homer very brief and Antimachus lengthy. Why? Because I measure the length by the matter and not by the letters.
[54] ΤΩΙ ΑΥΤΩΙ
Τὸ λακωνίζειν οὐ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅπερ οἴει, ὀλίγας συλλαβὰς γράφειν, ἀλλὰ περὶ πλείστων ὀλίγας. Οὕτως ἐγὼ καὶ βραχυλογώτατον Ὅμηρον λέγω καὶ πολὺν τὸν Ἀντίμαχον. Πῶς; τοῖς πράγμασι κρίνων τὸ μῆκος, ἀλλ' οὐ τοῖς γράμμασι.