Letter 1617: The one who is mad about theaters, O dear friend, becomes mad about love.
The lover of the theater, O excellent man, becomes a lover of mad passion. Flee therefore the theater, lest this madness be born in you. For it is better that the disease not take root, than to try to uproot it once it has taken root — which seems difficult to some, and impossible to others. For it is far better to prevent a disease from being planted with roots than to attempt to tear out what has already been planted with deep roots, which some consider difficult and others consider utterly impossible.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Τιιδαίτα υἱϊαπάα, μὶ͵ ἰἐυἱα οὶ αἀπιοτῖς δεδοίαπι. Τιιοαιγὶ αι ϊβηυ!β ἴη88Π0 ἈΠΊΟΓΘ ΟΘΔΡ(Ι18 68ῖ, οριΐϊπ!α υἱγόγαι, ᾿58Π115 νἱ πὶ ἃς ρμαγϊ5 ἢϊ Ὁ θεατρομανὴς, ὦ βέλτιστε, ἐρωτομανὴς γίνεται. Φεῦγε τοίνυν ἐχεῖνο, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο τεχθεέη. ΓΔ μεινον δηιδῖονῦ. ΠἸυἀ ἰἰδησα νἱτίαιν ἰδ ο] μὰ, . ἴπ ἰιος (, γὰρ μὴ ῥιξωθῆναι τὴν νόσον, ἢ ῥιζωθεῖσαν ἄνασπα- ἱποί . Ργαββδίδί Θη ἢ Π "ΠΟ Γι ΓΔ ΠΟΙ. Γ6, 4υδηι 7λ6ι18 [Δ γδάϊοῖ υ5 ἀνϑιογα, οὶ αυϊϑιϑε τὴ ἀ ΠΠ , νϑγοὸ δεΐϑπὶ ᾿ ροϑϑὶ ὈΓΠ6 νη! δι . ΟΡΙΧΙΝ. --- ΒΙΟΌΘΕΝΙ ὈΙΛΟΟΝΟ. σθῆναι, ὅπερ τισὶ μὲν δύσχολον, τισὶ δὲ ἀδύνατον εἶναι δοχεῖ ().
Related Letters
The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The priesthood is a sacred trust, not a career.
The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.
There were once two full brothers who had quarreled so violently with each other that they regarded as enemies even...