Letter 1543
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore laments that people love words that entertain rather than words that form the soul.
A terrible love of words has flooded the souls of people in this time — words, I say, not of the kind that bring wisdom and correction, but of the kind that entertain those who hear them. The result is that the crowd flocks to the performer and ignores the physician.
This is an old danger in a new form. Entertainment is not education. The man who leaves a lecture pleased but unchanged has been flattered, not taught. And the preacher who measures his success by applause has already chosen the wrong measure.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore laments that people love words that entertain rather than words that form the soul.
A terrible love of words has flooded the souls of people in this time — words, I say, not of the kind that bring wisdom and correction, but of the kind that entertain those who hear them. The result is that the crowd flocks to the performer and ignores the physician.
This is an old danger in a new form. Entertainment is not education. The man who leaves a lecture pleased but unchanged has been flattered, not taught. And the preacher who measures his success by applause has already chosen the wrong measure.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.