Letter 187
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Maro
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges Maro to give willingly what death will take from him anyway — turning necessity into an act of generosity before it is too late.
What you will in any case leave to your enemies against your will — give it willingly now. Turn the necessity into a generous act, so that you do not later mourn with regrets that cannot be undone.
The man who clings to his possessions until death tears them away has lost them twice: once when death takes them, and once when he realizes he could have used them for something that would have outlasted him. The man who gives freely has converted perishable goods into something imperishable. He has sent them ahead.
Αὐα εἰοεπιυενπαηε ἐοτίαἴμγ. .--- δῶρ. δρίδι. εἰ . θυξ γ] ποϊθπβ ἐπί πιὶςὶβ βθροπυμιεγο το φθογίβ, Β ἄα πυης νο]θΠ, δἰηπ ποορϑϑιίδίο βοθΟΥΪβ ΔῸ Υἱῦ- (υἱἷς διυάΐαπι οἰῖοα,, πὸ πο ροηϊοηἀδ ἀθρίογοβ, ρεροδ)ϊθης ἰῃ υἱίϑιη : (ΓΏΔΠ|, Οη- ᾳυλνῖβ σφ υ{{|. ΟΧΙΥ. -- ΤΠΕΟΡΗ͂ΙΟ. Ἃ καὶ ἄχων πολλάχις ἐχθροῖς καταλείψεις, ἑχὼν δός" καὶ τὴν ἀνάγχην ποίησον φιλοτιμίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἀμεταμέλητα θρηνήσειας - ἀλλὰ προπέμψας αὑτὰ εἰς τὸν ἀγήρω αἰῶνα, ἕξεις χρησιμδύοντα.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Maro
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges Maro to give willingly what death will take from him anyway — turning necessity into an act of generosity before it is too late.
What you will in any case leave to your enemies against your will — give it willingly now. Turn the necessity into a generous act, so that you do not later mourn with regrets that cannot be undone.
The man who clings to his possessions until death tears them away has lost them twice: once when death takes them, and once when he realizes he could have used them for something that would have outlasted him. The man who gives freely has converted perishable goods into something imperishable. He has sent them ahead.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.