Letter 828
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. Virtue is not natural to us — it must be won through daily struggle. But the struggle itself is part of the reward.
Ἐγὼ τοῦ ἰφόδου τὴν χολαχείαν δυνατωτέραν χαὶ ἀργαλεωτέραν εἶναί φημι. Ὅσα γὰρ μὴ δύναται ἀνάγχη, δύναται θεραπεία" χαὶ τοὺς μὴ χειρωθέν- τας ὑπὸ φόδου, χολαχεία πολλάχις κατεδουλώσατο. Χρὴ οὖν καὶ πρὸς φόδον χαὶ πρὸς θωπείαν μὲν ἀνδρίζεσθαι (ἑχάτερον δὲ ἀνελεύθερον τὸ πάθος), τὴν δ᾽ ἀλήθειαν μόνην τιμᾷν. ΡΛΗ!. --- Τῇ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ. Χρὴ τὸν εὐδόχιμον, χαὶ φιλόθεον εἶναι. χαὶ φιλάν- θρωπον" ἵνα μήτε διὰ τὸ ὕψος τῆς ἀρετῆς, χαὶ τὸ ἀναχεῖσθαι τῷ Θείῳ, τῶν ἀνθρώπων καταφρονοίη, μῆτε διὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ Θείου ἀμελοίη. Ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη ἣ πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον, εἰ χαὶ μείξων ἐστὶ Ο πολλῷ, τῇ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους συμπλεχομένη, λαμπρο- τέρα γίνεται.
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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. Virtue is not natural to us — it must be won through daily struggle. But the struggle itself is part of the reward.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.