Letter 462: You may wonder why I continue to write rather than coming to speak with you face to face.

To Zosimus. The arrogant and overbearing manner is not, as you suppose, the mark of a ruler's high spirit, but rather gentleness and approachability, and dealing with everyone with fairness. For the former is beast-like and serpentine, but the latter is fit for rule and most profitable to subjects. For the affairs of subjects are set right not by the high spirit of their leaders, but by their good sense. The one is perilous both to the rulers themselves and to those who are ruled, but the other is safe for both alike: safe for the rulers, if they let their authority incline toward what is more accommodating to the people; and safe for the subjects, if they nurture their leaders' fairness into a love greater than fear.

Οὐ τὸ ἀλαζονικὸν καὶ ὑπέρογκον δεῖγμα ἄρχοντός ἐστιν, ὡς ἡγῇ, φρονήματος, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἥμερον καὶ εὐπρόσιτον, καὶ τὸ πᾶσιν μετ’ ἐπιεικείας προσφέρεσθαι. Ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ θηριοπρεπὲς καὶ ὀφιῶδες, τοῦτο δὲ ἀρχικόν, καὶ τοῖς ὑπηκόοις λυσιτελέστατον. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ φρονήματος, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ φρονήσεως τῶν ἡγεμόνων τὰ τῶν ὑπηκόων κατορθοῦται πράγματα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ καὶ αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις σφαλερόν, ἡ δὲ ἑκατέροις ἀσφαλής· τοῖς μὲν, εἰ τὸ ἀρχικὸν ἐπὶ τὸ δημοτικώτερον νεύειν ἀπαπείθοιεν· τοῖς δὲ, εἰ τὴν ἐπιείκειαν τὴν ἡγεμονικὴν εἰς ἀγάπην μείζονα τοῦ φόβου τυγχάνουσαν τρέφοιεν.