Letter 803
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore writes on matters of virtue.
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance. The person who knows what is right but does not do it is worse off than the one who never learned.
ον ἀϊνίπηαπι οἱ Πυϊπληδη) πδιυΓάῃ 8δοοῦάο- ὥσπερ μέση χαθέστηχεν, ἵνα τὴν μὲν θεραπεύῃ, τῇ ἃ εἶἰυπι νείυιϊ πιουΐυπι ἰμ ογ]θοια πὶ , εἱ ΠῚ Δ τὴ δὲ μεταδολὴν ἐργάζηται κρείττονα. Εἴ τις τοιγαροῦν ταύτης μεῖζον φρονεῖ, οὐδὲ φρόνησιν ἔχειν μοι δοχεῖ. ΚΑ’. -- Τῇ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ. Οἱ ἅγιοι, ὦ σοφώτατε, τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρετῆς τῶν κινδύνων ὑπερθολὰς, ἐφόδιον μείζονος εὐδοχιμήσεως ἔχονσιν.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore writes on matters of virtue.
Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance. The person who knows what is right but does not do it is worse off than the one who never learned.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.