Letter 182

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Artemidorus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the duty to conduct oneself rightly in all circumstances — prosperity and adversity alike.

Whether in prosperity or adversity, in public life or in private — the standard of conduct does not change. Circumstances change; virtue does not adjust itself to circumstances. The man who behaves well only when things are going well has not understood what virtue is.

The test of character is what a man does when the conditions are unfavorable. Anyone can be generous with abundance; the question is what he does in scarcity.

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