Letter 223: What is not lawful to do is not lawful to say.
Do you truly understand what you are reading? For as some say, you remember certain sayings of our God-inspired father Basil, but you remember nothing of his actual deeds. If you are a true admirer of the man, demonstrate his words through your actions — the words by which he regulated his conduct according to the rule of philosophy. For if you took up the man's treatise against drunkards, you would find yourself there, enduring a countless swarm of disgraceful behaviors.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
Α τὴν γνώμην· « Αρά γε γινώσκεις ἃ ἀναγινώσκεις;
"Ως τινες γάρ φασι, ῥημάτων μνημονεύεις τινῶν τοῦ
θεοπνεύστου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Βασιλείου, οὗ τῶν πρα
γμάτων κατ' οὐδὲν μνημονεύεις. Εἰ δὲ ἀληθὴς εἶ τοῦ
ἀνδρὸς ἐραστὴς, ἔργοις τοὺς ἐκείνου λόγους ἐπίδει
ξαι, δι' ὧν τὰ ἤθη κανόνι φιλοσοφίας ἐῤῥύθμισεν.
Εἰ γὰρ τὴν κατὰ μεθυόντων τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μετεχειρίση
πυκτίδα, σαυτὸν εὐρήσεις ἐκεῖ, τὸν μυρίον ἐσμὸν τῶν
αἰσχυνῶν ὑπομένοντα,
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