Letter 216: I am troubled that in our time the names of virtues and vices have been systematically confused.
To Paul. People often dare things greater than pardon or punishment for the sake of money and power, and so as to yield these to no one. For wishing to acquire them, they acquire them through countless evils; and fearing to lose them, they resort to far more grievous measures. For thinking it worse to lose them than never to have acquired them, they contrive worse schemes. One must therefore overcome the passions at the outset, lest in the end we be found suffering from incurable disease.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΣΙΗ΄. – ΠΑΥΛΩ.
Συγγνώμης καὶ τιμωρίας μείζονα πολλάκις τολ-
μῶσιν ἄνθρωποι χρημάτων ἕνεκεν καὶ ἀρχῆς, καὶ τοῦ
μηδενὶ τούτων παραχωρῆσαι. Κτήσασθαι μὲν γὰρ
αὐτὰ βουλόμενοι, διὰ μυρίων κακῶν κτῶνται, καὶ
φοβούμενοι ἀποβαλεῖν, πολλῷ ἀργαλεωτέροις (46)
ἐγχειροῦσι. Νομίζοντες γὰρ τὸ ἀποβαλεῖν τοῦ μηδὲ
κτήσασθαι δεινότερον εἶναι, χαλεπώτερα μηχανών-
ται· χρὴ οὖν ἐν προοιμίοις περιγίνεσθαι τῶν πα-
θῶν (47), ἵνα μὴ τελευτῶντες ἀνήκεστα νοσοῦντες
φωραθῶμεν.
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