Letter 479: The philosophers teach, Nemesios, that the soul has parts, and that its health depends on the right ordering of...

To Eutonios the Deacon: How many people do you suppose, among all humanity, are nameless and without fame, though they have proven far more zealous than those who are celebrated in song? This is because the latter found poets and storytellers who did not judge every deed according to truth, but assessed it according to their own goodwill, and exalted every achievement to the skies...

ΥΟΘ. – ΕΥΤΟΝΙΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ. Πόσους οἴει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνωνύμους καὶ ἀδόξους εἶναι πολλῷ σπουδαιοτέρους γεγενημένους τῶν ἀδο- μένων ; τῷ τοὺς μὲν ποιητῶν τυχεῖν καὶ λογοποιῶν, τῶν πᾶν τὸ πραττόμενον μὴ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν κρι- νόντων, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἣν εἶχον εὔνοιαν ὑπολαμβανόντων, καὶ τὸ κατορθωθὲν οὐρανόμηκες ποιοῦντων · τοὺς δὲ μὴ ἐσχηκέναι τοὺς ὑμνήσαντας διὰ φθόνον, ὅπερ ταῖς λαμπραῖς πράξεσιν ἀκολουθεῖν εἴωθεν. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν εἰ καὶ ἔδοξαν οἱ μὲν ἀνακεκηρύχθαι, οἱ δὲ σεσιωπῆσθαι, τοῦ κόσμου λοιπὸν εἰς τέλος ἐπειγομέ- νου, ἐκεῖσε τοὺς ὄντως λαμπροὺς καὶ ἐνδόξους ὀψό- μεθα, τῆς θείας δίκης οὐκ ἀνεξομένης ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων δόξης ἐνεγκεῖν τὴν ψῆφον, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας, τῆς εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ ἀδιαπτώτου. Μὴ οὖν ὀλιγωρει, εἰ οὐρανοπολίτης ὢν τὰς τῶν φθονούντων σοι γλώττας αἰχμῆς νεηκόνου ὀξυτέρας ας αἰσθάνῃ κατὰ σαυτοῦ φερομένας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα λαμπρό- τερος ἔσεσθαι προσδόκησον.