[46]
I have been bearing with you, O Torquatus, for a long time. I have been
bearing with you; and sometimes I, of my own accord, call back and check my inclination, when
it has been provoked to chastise your speech. I make some allowance for your violent temper; I
have some indulgence for your youth, I yield somewhat to our own friendship, I have some
regard to your father. But unless you put some restraint upon yourself you will compel me to
forget our friendship, in order to pay due regard to my own dignity. No one ever attempted to
attach the slightest suspicion to me, that I did not defeat him; but I wish you to believe me
in this;—those whom I think that I can defeat most easily, are not those whom I take
the greatest pleasure in answering.
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