Letter 168: On the necessity that those who shine with the correctness of their teaching must also have a life that matches...

To Apollonios the Bishop. Even though some of those who have spent time with you, trying to quench my eagerness to write to you, have said that you honor flatterers excessively while despising those who offer counsel, I could not be persuaded that it is possible for someone to excel so greatly in both wisdom and deeds, unless one happens to be a student of some teachers, a listener of others, and a discoverer of still others. For these reasons I have written to you, being confident that a man of your discernment knows how to distinguish between the poison of flattery and the medicine of honest counsel. The flatterer pleases the ear but corrupts the soul; the true counselor may wound the pride but heals the character. Therefore, if the reports about you are true, reverse your course and embrace those who speak the truth to you, even when their words are painful, and be wary of those whose pleasing speech conceals a desire to manipulate rather than to help.

ΒΑΡΕΘ. -- ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΟ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟ. Εἰ καὶ τινες τῶν σοὶ συνδιατριψάντων σβέσαι μου τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐπιστεῖλαί σοι ὁρμὴν πειρώμενοι ἔφασαν, ὡς τοὺς μὲν κολακεύοντας ἄγαν τιμᾷς, τῶν δὲ συμ- βουλευόντων καταφρονεῖς. ᾿Αλλ' ἐμὲ οὐκ ἂν τις πείσειεν, ὡς οἷόν τε (23) τοσοῦτον καὶ τῇ φρονήσει καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις διενεγκεῖν, ἣν μὴ τις τῶν μὲν μαθη- τὴς, τῶν δὲ ἀκροατής, τῶν δὲ εὑρετὴς τυγχάνῃ. Διὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπέστειλα· εἰ δὲ παῤῥησιαστικώτερον, ἢ οἱ πεπλησιακότες (24) σοι γράφω, μὴ διὰ τοῦτο θορηβηθῆς· ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτό με τοῦτο ἀπόδεξαι, ὅτι τὸ πρέπον ἐμοὶ πρὸ τοῦ συμφέροντος εἰλόμην. Ο τι οὖν βούλομαι εἰπεῖν, αὐτίκα μάλα εἰρήσεται· οὐ γὰρ Β προκατασκευῆς δέονται οἱ σοφοί, ἀλλὰ τὸ καλὸν ἀτε- χνῶς ἐπιτηδεύειν εἰώθασιν. Εἰ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀσκεῖς, μὴ τῷ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι ἁμαυροῦν τὸ ταύτης κάλλος. ἀνέχου. Μέγα μὲν γὰρ ἀρετὴ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν ἑαυτῇ μὴ μαρτυρῇ, μείζων καὶ ὡραιοτέρα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δείκνυται (25). Εἰ δὲ νομίζεις λήσεσθαι, εἰ μὴ ἐπι- δείξαιο, τουναντίον νόμιζε, ὅτι τότε λάμψεις, ὅταν μὴ ἐπιδείξαιο. Φιλόνεικον γάρ πως τὸ τῶν ἀν- θρώπων γένος ἑστί· καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς μεγαλαυ- χοῦντας ἀντιστρατεύεται, τοῖς δὲ ταπεινοῦν ἑαυ- τοὺς σπουδάζουσι μεθ' ἡδονῆς ἡττᾶται· κἀκεί- νοις μὲν ἀναστέλλον αὐτῶν τὸ φιλότιμον, καὶ τὰ μὴ προσόντα προστρίβεται κακά · τούτοις δὲ καὶ τὰ μὴ προσόντα ἐπιφημίζει καλά. "Αλλως δὲ οὐδὲ ἀρετὴν τὴν οἷόν τε λαθεῖν, ἀλλὰ κἂν πρὸς ὀλίγον φθόνῳ Ε ἐπισκιασθῇ, αὖθις ἀναλάμπει, καὶ τῶν ἐπισκιασάν- των κρατεῖ. Ωσπερ γὰρ τὸ φῶς οὐχ οἷόν τε λαθεῖν, οὕτως οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν· καὶ ταῦτα μὲν λελέχθω περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψήφου. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν θείαν ἐθέλεις μαθεῖν, ἔχεις ἐν τοῖς θείοις Εὐαγγελίοις τὰ κατὰ τὸν Φαρισαῖον καὶ τὸν τελώνην λαμπρῶς στηλογραφη- θέντα.