Letter 137

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Pamprepius the Tribune
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore urges a military official to measure all his actions by the standard of piety and justice.

Whatever your office requires of you, whatever comes your way — measure it by piety and justice. Nothing is truly burdensome when it is undertaken with a view to what is right. And nothing is truly successful, however it appears outwardly, when it is achieved by other means.

This is the one standard that does not shift: not rank, not wealth, not the approval of superiors. The man who acts justly stands firm; the man who does not is already lost, whatever victories he claims.

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