Letter 127: Do not seek wealth, my friend — it is the father of pride, the parent of contempt, the supplier of pleasures, the...
Since our nature possesses nothing grand or supernatural, let us drive it toward moderation and gentleness, as toward what is proper and kindred, banishing all arrogance. To claim for ourselves what belongs to all is foolish, for what is common cannot be made private without injustice, and what is private cannot endure without community.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΡΚΖ'. - ΑΝΕΠΙΓΡΑΦΟΣ.
Επειδὴ οὐδὲν μεγαλοφυὲς, οὐδὲ ὑπερφυὲς ἔχει ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις, ἐπὶ τὸ μέτριον αὐτὴν καὶ ἐπιεικὲς, ἅτε δὴ οἰκεῖον καὶ συγγενὲς, συνελάσωμεν, πᾶσαν ἀλαζονείαν ἐξορίζοντες.
ΡΜΔ΄. – ΘΕΟΔΩΡΩ
Διδάσκειν, ὅτι τὸ ἅπασι κοινὸν ἰδίᾳ οἰκειοῦσθαι ἀνόητον.
Related Letters
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.
1. I myself feel how hard-hearted I must appear to you, and I can scarcely excuse to myself my conduct in not consenting to send to your Holiness my son the deacon Lucillus, your own brother. But when your own time comes to surrender to the claims of Churches in remote places some of those whom you have educated, and who are most dear and sweet ...
...the family's fortunes have grown, and my lord and son Flavianus is enjoying the fruits of private leisure.
You ask why wine does not affect everyone the same way — why it makes some genial, others aggressive; some...
1. Before entering on the subject on which I have resolved to write to your Grace, I shall briefly state my reasons for the terms used in the title of this letter, lest these should surprise either yourself or any other person. I have written to my lord, because it is written: Brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for...