Letter 91

Isidore of PelusiumRhinocerus, a magistrate|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: Rhinocerus, a magistrate
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore reminds a magistrate that nothing worldly lasts.

Nothing from this life endures. Not gold, not silver, not crowns, not robes, not beauty, not power, not fame, not family, not anything that the world considers great — for all of it is temporary. It arrives with time and departs with time, like smoke dispersed by wind. If you build your identity on things that vanish, you will vanish with them. Build instead on what lasts: virtue, mercy, justice, and the knowledge of God.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.