The late Emperor Augustus received more gifts from the gods than anyone else. But he never stopped praying for rest and a break from running the empire. He used to comfort himself with one sweet dream: that someday he would live just for himself. In a letter to the Senate, he promised that his retirement would be dignified and wouldn't dishonor his past achievements. Then he wrote these words: "It's better to actually do these things than just promise them. But I'm so eager for that time I long for that I find pleasure just talking about it, even though it's still far away." Augustus valued leisure so much that even though he couldn't have it, he enjoyed it just by thinking about it and looking forward to it.
The late Emperor Augustus, upon whom the gods bestowed more blessings than on any one else, never ceased to pray for rest and exemption from the troubles of empire: he used to enliven his labours with this sweet, though unreal consolation, that he would some day live for himself alone. In a letter which he addressed to the Senate, after promising that his rest shall not be devoid of dignity nor discreditable to his former glories, I find the following words:—"These things, however, it is more honourable to do than to promise: but my eagerness for that time, so earnestly longed for, has led me to derive a certain pleasure from speaking about it, though the reality is still far distant." He thought leisure so important, that though he could not actually enjoy it, yet he did so by anticipation and by thinking about it.