moi k.t.l.] = 'I have
made up my mind'. Cf. Tusc. 5, 12 _Non mihi videtur ad beate vivendum satis
posse virtutem_; ib. 5, 22 (a curious passage) _mihi enim non videbatur
quisquam esse beatus posse cum esset in malis; in malis autem sapientem
esse posse_; Off. 3, 71 _malitia quae volt illa quidem videri se esse
prudentiam_ ('craft which desires that people should believe it to be
wisdom'); Liv. 1, 10, 7 _dis visum nec irritam conditoris templi vocem
esse_ ... ('the gods decided that the word of the founder of the shrine
should not remain of no effect'). It would be difficult, if not impossible,
to find a passage in a writer before silver Latin times where the best
texts still exhibit anything like _videtur eum facere_ for _is videtur
facere_. H 534, 1, n. 1; Roby, 1353. -- ALIQUID AD TE: 'some work dedicated
to you'; so below, 3; cf. also Lael. 4 _ut de amicitia scriberem aliquid_;
ib. _Catone maiore qui est scriptus ad te de senectute_; Div. 2, 3 _liber
is quem ad nostrum Atticum de senectute misimus._

2. AUT ... AUT CERTE: so often in Cic.; _certe_, 'at any rate'. --
SENECTUTIS: at the time the words were written Cic. was 62 years old,
Atticus three years older. For the meaning of _senectus_ see n. on 4. --
LEVARI VOLO: the best Latin writers frequently use the passive infinitive
after verbs expressing desire, where moderns would incline to the active;
here Cic. instead of saying 'I wish to relieve yourself and me of the
burden' says 'I wish yourself and me to be relieved'. -- ETSI: = [Greek:
kaitoi] 'and yet'. This use of _etsi_ to introduce a clause correcting the
preceding clause, though not uncommon (_e.g._ below 29; Tusc. 1, 99; 3, 17;
4, 63; 5, 55), is far less common than that of _quamquam_, which we have in
1, 9, 10, 24, 47, 67, 69. -- TE QUIDEM: 'you at all events', 'you for one'.
-- MODICE AC SAPIENTER: _modice_ recalls _moderationem_ above (_modice_ and
_moderate_ are used with exactly the same sense by Cic.), while _sapienter_
recalls _aequitatem_, since _sapientia_ produces stability and an even
balance of the mind. In De Or. 1, 132 we have _modice et scienter_. --
SICUT OMNIA: cf. Fin. 1, 7 _facete is quidem sicut alia_; also below, 65
_sicut alia_. -- ET FERRE ET LATURUM ESSE: Tischer rightly remarks that
when a verb is repeated thus with a variation of tense Cic. very nearly
always uses _et ... et_, and not a single _et_ merely. The contrast between
the two tenses is thus made more pointed. Cf. 3 _et dix