Letter 1522
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore encourages someone bearing a trial that is nearly over.
Hold on — especially since the greater part has already been endured and its sting has been spent. A temptation that has already passed tends quickly toward forgetfulness. But the one still anticipated distresses as many times as it is anticipated. The one you have almost outlasted already fades; why let the shadow of what remains trouble you more than the thing itself?
χαὶ μάλιστα τῷ παρεληλυθέναι χατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος ἐχνενευρισμένα. Ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἀποφοιτῆσας πειρασμὸς αὐτίχα μάλα πρὸς λήθην βλέπει, ὁ δὲ προσδοχώμε- νος τοσαυτάχις ἀνιᾷ, ὁσάχις ἂν ἐλπισθῇ.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed person
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore encourages someone bearing a trial that is nearly over.
Hold on — especially since the greater part has already been endured and its sting has been spent. A temptation that has already passed tends quickly toward forgetfulness. But the one still anticipated distresses as many times as it is anticipated. The one you have almost outlasted already fades; why let the shadow of what remains trouble you more than the thing itself?
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.