From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: Atrios the Bishop
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reflects on the Greek words for arrogance (ἀπόνοια) and admonition (νουθεσία) — deriving both from νοῦς (mind) — to argue that the antidote to arrogance is the restoration of right thinking.
Since arrogance (ἀπόνοια) has fallen away from due measure and from what is fitting — having become 'apo,' that is, far away from the mind (νοῦς), which is precisely why it is called ἀπόνοια — it produces vainglory and bluster. The remedy, therefore, is admonition (νουθεσία), which derives its name from the implanting (θέσις) of the mind (νοῦς). The arrogant person has lost his mind, etymologically speaking; the one who admonishes him is trying to put it back.
Perhaps when such people hear the call: 'Put a heart into yourselves,' they will willingly step toward humility. Not because they have been shamed into it, but because they have recovered their senses — which is the only cure that lasts.
Context:Isidore reflects on the Greek words for arrogance (ἀπόνοια) and admonition (νουθεσία) — deriving both from νοῦς (mind) — to argue that the antidote to arrogance is the restoration of right thinking.
Since arrogance (ἀπόνοια) has fallen away from due measure and from what is fitting — having become 'apo,' that is, far away from the mind (νοῦς), which is precisely why it is called ἀπόνοια — it produces vainglory and bluster. The remedy, therefore, is admonition (νουθεσία), which derives its name from the implanting (θέσις) of the mind (νοῦς). The arrogant person has lost his mind, etymologically speaking; the one who admonishes him is trying to put it back.
Perhaps when such people hear the call: 'Put a heart into yourselves,' they will willingly step toward humility. Not because they have been shamed into it, but because they have recovered their senses — which is the only cure that lasts.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.