Letter 461: The philosophers who claim to have abolished passion altogether have not, in my view, achieved virtue — they have...
To Hierax the Deacon: Nature is bound by necessity and limits, but the will has been honored with freedom and authority. Why, then, do you adorn the body while neglecting the soul? Even if you devise ten thousand contrivances, you will not make an ugly body beautiful. Yet more easily could you lead the soul to the very summit of beauty, if you wished. And the former, even if it were possible, would be unprofitable and envied; while the latter is both profitable and superior to envy, and above jealousy. And if you think it difficult to ascend to the peak of virtue, there are indeed those who have accomplished even this, rising up from the very depths...
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
ΥΞΑ΄. – ΙΕΡΑΚΙ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ.
Ἡ φύσις ἀνάγκῃ καὶ ὅροις δέδεται, ἡ δὲ προαίρε-
σις ἐλευθερίᾳ καὶ ἐξουσίᾳ τετίμηται. Τί τοιγαροῦν
τὸ σῶμα καλλωπίζων, τῆς ψυχῆς ἀμελεῖς; Μυρία
μὲν (44) ἐὰν μηχανήσῃ, τὸ εἰδεχθὲς σῶμα εὔμορφον
οὐ ποιήσεις. Ῥᾷον δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς αὐτὴν τοῦ κάλ-
λους ἀναγάγοις, εἰ βούλοιο, τὴν κορυφήν· καὶ τὸ
μὲν, εἰ καὶ δυνατὸν ἦν, ἀνωφελὲς ἦν καὶ ἐπίφθονον·
τὸ δὲ καὶ ὠφέλιμον, καὶ φθόνου κρεῖττον, καὶ βασκα-
νίας ἀνώτερον. Εἰ δὲ νομίζεις δύσκολον εἶναι τὸ
ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς, μάλιστα μὲν
εἰσὶν οἱ καὶ τοῦτο ἀνύσαντες, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ
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