Letter 220: Most people are slow to do what is genuinely good, and quick to do what is harmful.

To Lampetios the Bishop. Those who look to benefit others, claiming the right to be silent, do not put forward the magnitude of their achievements as a reason for their silence; instead, they attempt to praise the truth — before which even the most skilled speakers hesitate to strip for the contest. For even if they praise noble things not worthily but adequately, they leave behind for later generations a testimony of their own judgment, which inclined toward what deserved to be told. To Lampetios the Bishop. Guard yourself, O most excellent one, from the uninitiated.

ΣΤ΄. – ΛΑΜΠΕΤΙΟ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟ. Οἱ μὲν εἰς ὠφέλειαν βλέποντες, ᾿ ἡσυχάζεσθαι δικαιοῦντες, οὐ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν κατορθουμένων, ὡς ἀφωνίας αἴτιον, προβάλλονται, ἀλλ' ἐγκωμιάζειν ἐπιχειροῦσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, πρὸς ἦν καὶ οἱ δεινότατος C λέγειν ἀποδύσασθαι ὀκνοῦσιν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ ἐπα αξίως, ἀλλὰ γε ἀποχρώντως τὰ καλὰ ἐπαινέσαντες, τεκμήριον τῆς ἑαυτῶν γνώμης τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ἀξιαφή- γητα ῥεπούσης, καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνθρώποις ἐγκαταλείπουσι. ΣΙΑ΄. – ΛΑΜΠΕΤΙΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ. Παραφυλάττου μὲν, ὦ ἄριστε, τοὺς ἀμυήτους, καὶ τῶν θείων λόγων ἀναξίους, οἵτινες καὶ γελῶσι πολ- λάκις τὰ πάσης εὐφημίας κρείττονα· φθέγγου δὲ οἷς θέμις (9). Οὐ γὰρ κυσὶν, οὐδὲ χοίροις ἀνθρωπομόρ- φοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀγγελικὸν βιοῦσι βίον, δοτέον τὰ ἅγια, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον χρησμόν. ΣΙΣΤ΄. – ΠΑΛΛΑΔΙΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ. Πρὸς Τιμόθεον, α. Εἰς τὸ, «Εἰ τις ἐπισκοπῆς ὀρέγεται. » Οἱ μὴ συνέντες τὴν γνώμην τὴν ἀποστολικὴν, ``` ΣΙΗ'. - ΖΩΣΙΜΟ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ. Πολλοὶ μὲν σε δεινῶς σφόδρα καὶ καταφορικῶς ἐκκωμῳδοῦσι, καὶ παρὰ πάντων πιστεύονται. Ἐμοὶ δὲ τάχιστα καὶ εὐπρεπέστατα λελέξεται, ὅτι δίκαιος ἂν εἴης, κἂν ἀψὲ τῆς ἡλικίας, γνῶναι ὅτι μυρίων τιμωριῶν πρόξενοί εἰσιν αἱ περὶ τὸ σῶμα ἡδοναί.