Letter 446: If you were to dwell on the memory of the coming glory, Pepios, it would put wings on your soul.

To Pepios. Why do you hasten to wrong the man whom you ought rather to love, the man who has made plain to you what everyone thinks about you? For disagreements have often set the sharp-witted right, contriving that deeds done in an insolent manner be healed. If, then, you regard what you heard as an insult, keep yourself, by your conduct, free from insult. For if you improve your works, the reproaches too will depart.

Τί σπεύδεις ἀδικεῖν, ὃν ἔδει μᾶλλον φιλεῖν, τὴν πάντων περὶ σοῦ γνώμην σοι φανερώσαντα; Αἱ γὰρ διαφοραὶ πολλάκις διωρθώσαντο τοὺς ἀγχίνοους, τὰ πραχθέντα ὑβριστικῶς ἰαθῆναι παρασκευάσασαι. Εἰ τοίνυν ὕβριν ἡγῇ ἅπερ ἤκουσας, τῇ πράξει σαυτὸν ἀνύβριστον φύλαξον. Εἰ γὰρ τὰ ἔργα σου βελτιώσεις, καὶ [αἱ] λοιδορίαι οἰχήσονται.