Letter 181: I reproach you sharply for this: the gratitude that was owed has died in you.
Those who wish to quench fire do not pour upon it everything that is combustible, nor do they provide it with other fuel by which it grows and becomes unconquerable, but they deprive it of nourishment. So too with anger: if you wish to extinguish it, do not feed it with thoughts of revenge and brooding over wrongs, but starve it through patience and prayer.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΡΠΑ΄. – ΥΠΑΤΙΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΥΟΜΕΝΩ.
Οἱ πῦρ σβέσαι βουλόμενοι, οὐχ ὅλην εὐκατάκρη-
στον προστιθέασιν, οὐδὲ τροφὴν ἄλλην παρέχουσιν
αὐτῷ, δι' ἧς αὔξεταί τε καὶ ἀχείρωτον γίνεται, ἀλλὰ
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