Letter 152

To the same person. The mind is the master, but the poor flesh is the slave. Do not, therefore, tend the slave immoderately through gluttony, lest, forgetting its own proper limits, it advance to tyranny and dare to take up arms against the one who owns it. This is why Solomon, understanding the folly of the body, said: "Luxury is not fitting for a fool, nor for a servant to rule over his own master with insolence" [Proverbs 19:10].

Δεσπότης ἐστὶν ὁ νοῦς, δοῦλος δὲ τὸ σαρκίον. Μὴ τοίνυν τὸν δοῦλον ἀμέτρως θεράπευε διὰ γαστριμαργίας, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλαθόμενος τῶν ἰδίων μέτρων εἰς τυραννίδα ἔλθῃ, καὶ ὅπλα τολμήσῃ ἆραι κατὰ τοῦ κτησαμένου· διόπερ ὁ Σολομὼν ἐπιστάμενος τὴν ἀφροσύνην τοῦ σώματος ἔλεγεν· Οὐ συμφέρει τῷ ἄφρονι ἡ τρυφή, κἂν οἰκέτης ἄρχῃ μεθ᾽ ὕβρεως τοῦ ἰδίου δεσπότου.