Letter 27: On the text, "Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" [Matthew 10:16].

To Herminus. If you long for salvation, do everything that leads to it. For the part of one who desires that something should come to pass is not to hinder its coming to pass, but to do everything by which it might come about.

Εἰ σωτηρίας ἐρᾷς, πάντα ποίει τὰ εἰς ταύτην ἄγοντα. Τοῦ γὰρ ἐπιθυμοῦντος τι γενέσθαι, οὐ τὸ γενέσθαι κωλύειν ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πάντα πράττειν ὅπως ἂν γένοιτο.