Letter 1614: The one who practices virtue may justly call upon the divine inclination for help.
The one who practices virtue would be justified in calling upon the divine aid for help; but the one who has no concern for virtue at all, even if he calls, will not find God to be attentive. For God graciously assents to the one who fulfills everything on his own part. And so that the argument may proceed through examples and make this clearer: leaving aside the statement, "If a prostitute wishes to be saved but does not wish to be chaste, how will she be saved?" I will say this. Suppose someone desires to learn letters but does not attend a teacher; then, encountering the schoolmaster in the marketplace, he should say, "Make me learn letters." Would you not think that the teacher would answer brightly, saying, "You fool, how could you learn, when you neither attend a teacher, nor possess a pen and tablet, nor are willing to labor? For if your desire were joined with effort and my diligence, something more would come of it. But if you say you desire to learn yet do nothing that those who desire it do, how will you be able to learn?" Such are also those who say they desire virtue but flee the road that leads to it.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
"αὐοτανιὶ εἰ [αεἰθηιὶ γμαμῖμπι ἱπ 8ὲ εεἰ, ειι5 [τὶ αἰιαἑμηι. Υἱτιαπὶ ἰαμδ. (. ερῖει!. διῦ εἰ .͵ Ὃ μὲν ἀρετὴν ἀσχῶν, δίχαιος ἂν εἴη χαὶ τὴν θείαν εἰς βοήθειαν ἐπιχαλεῖσθαι ῥοπήν" ὁ ὃὲ μηδ- ὅλως φροντίζων ἀρετῆς, οὐδ᾽ ἂν χαλοίη, ἐπήχοον ἕξει τὸ Θεῖον. Τῷ γὰρ πάντα τὰ παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πλη- ροῦντι εὐμενῶς ἐπινεύει. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ διὰ παρα- δειγμάτων βαδίσας ὁ λόγος σαφέστερον τοῦτο ποιή- σῃ, παρεὶς τὸ φάναι. Ε! ἡ πόρνη βούλεται μὲν σω- θῆναι, οὐ βούλεται δὲ σωφρονῆσαι, πῶς σωθήσε- ται; Ἐχεῖνο φράσω. "Ἔστω τις γράμματα μὲν ἐπι- θυμῶν μαθεῖν, εἰς διδασχάλου δὲ μὴ φοιτῶν " εἶτα τῷ γραμματιστῇ ἀγοράξοντι ἐντυχὼν λέξοι" ἸΙοἱτσόν με μαθεῖν γράμματα ἄρ᾽ οὐχ ἡγῇ ἐχεῖ- γον λαμπρῶς ἀποχρίνεσθαι λέγοντα’ Ἐμόρόντητε, χαὶ πῶς ἂν δύναιο μαθεῖν, μήτε εἰς διδασχάλου φοιτῶν, μῆτε γραφίδα καὶ δέλτον χεχτημένος, μήτε “πονεῖν βουλόμενος ; Τῇ μὲν γὰρ ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῇ σῇ εἰ : ὁ πόνος συναφθείη χαὶ ἡ ἐμὴ σπουδὴ, ἔσται τι τιἀέον. Εἰ δὲ λέγοις μὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν, μηδὲ ποιοῖς ὧν οὐ ἐπιθυμοῦντες ποιοῦσι, πῶς μαθεῖν δυνήσῃ; Τοιοῦτοί εἰσι χαὶ οἱ ἀρετῆς λέγοντες μὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν, τὴν δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν φέρουσαν ὁδὺν ἀποδιδράσχοντες,
Related Letters
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.
There is no need for me to call on the spells of the spirit to treat your grief once more.
To the Consul Nomus.
Even if, seized by an incurable madness as you are, the sane seem to you to be raving and those who admonish you...
Festal.