Letter 175: The person who falls twice into the same trap does not deserve the same mercy as the one who fell once without...

If being struck and wronged were defeat, O wise one, neither Christ nor Paul would have spoken to the contrary. For the Master commanded that to the one who strikes the right cheek, one should also offer the other; and the Apostle urged, "Why not rather suffer wrong?" This is a new kind of victory, surpassing the ancient contests, for it conquers not the body of the enemy but the enmity itself.

ΗΡΩΝΙ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ (59). Εἰς τὸ, « Τῷ τύπτοντὶ σε εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σια- γόνα. Οὐκ ἂν, ὦ σοφὲ, εἰ τὸ τυπτηθῆναι καὶ ἀδικη θῆναι ἧττὰ ἦν, καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τάναντία Έφησαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Δεσπότης τῷ τύπτοντι εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, καὶ τὴν ἀλλὴν παρέχειν ἐθέσπισεν· ὁ δὲ Ἀπθστολος· « Διὰ τὸ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἀδικεῖσθε;» παρῇνεσε. Καινὸς γὰρ οὗτος τῶν παλαισμάτων ὁ να μος· ἐπειδὴ καὶ καινότερος τῶν ὑπάθλων ὁ τρόπος οὐ γὰρ κότινος, καὶ σίτησις ἐν πρυτανείῳ, οὐδὲ χαλ- καὶ εἰκόνες χρυσῷ ἀπαστράπτουσαι· τὰ οἰκτρå ταῦτα καὶ εὐτελῆ ἔπαθλὰ εἰσιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεία σὐρανῶν, καὶ ζωὴ τέλος μὴ ἐπισταμένη. Μὴ τοῖνον, εἱ ὑποχωρήσεις καὶ φιλοσοφήσεις, νόμιζε ἡττᾶσθαι · ἀλλὰ δίωκε την νίκὴν ἐν τῇ δοκούσῃ ἥττῃ κειμένην. Εἰ δὲ θαυμάζεις τὸ εἰρημένον, παραδείγματι, ὁ λέγω, ποιήσω σαφές. Λέγεταί τις βασιλεὺς μέλλων ναυμαχεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους, καὶ ἰδὼν πολλῷ πλέονας τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς, καὶ ὑποχωρήσας τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐπερχομένοις, εἰρηκέναι · Οὐ φεύγω · ἀλλὰ καὶ διώκω τὸ συμφέρον ὀπίσω κείμενον. El τοίνυν κἀνταῦθα ἐν τῇ δοκούσῃ ἥττῃ καὶ ὑποχωρήσει ---CONTINUES---