Letter 859: The spiritual life is a journey with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Some who were equal in virtue, though they came to the same end, fell by different roads and were scattered in different directions. For the paths of wickedness are many, but the path of righteousness is one. The righteous man walks a narrow road, but it is straight and leads to life; the wicked man walks a broad road, but it winds and turns and leads to destruction. Do not be deceived by the apparent ease of the broad road, for its smoothness is the smoothness of a descent, and its breadth is the breadth of a snare. Consider those who began well but ended badly — they did not fall all at once, but gradually, step by step, compromise by compromise, until they found themselves in a place they never intended to be. The first step was small: a minor concession, a slight bending of principle. The second was larger. The third was larger still. And so it continued, each step seeming reasonable in the light of the one before it, until the entire journey had led them to ruin. Therefore be vigilant at every step, not merely at the great crossroads of life but at every small turning. For it is the small turnings that determine the direction of the whole journey, and by the time you reach the great crossroads, the choice has often already been made.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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
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