To Count Ulpianus, on Athanasius the Orator

It is said that what is faulty in people’s ways can be set in order and improved by words. But I think that characters made beautiful by nature make words beautiful themselves, though they need none, just as bodies that are naturally beautiful need no paint. These qualities stand out in the most eloquent orator Athanasius, and I have been all the more pleased with him because he is an ardent admirer of Your Excellency and is constantly singing your praises. Here, though, I have competed with him, and in listing your fine qualities I have outdone him, for I know more of your good deeds than he does. Yet I am vexed that I cannot praise them all, and that my summary of your virtues falls short of what might be said in your praise. But if God grants that it even comes near the truth, you will hold first place in every kind of virtue among all the people of your day. [a]