Letter 221

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Primus
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the testing of virtue — arguing that genuine character only becomes evident under pressure.

Advice given seems like a warning. But the warning, when it is genuine, comes from care rather than pessimism. The person who warns you of danger is not predicting disaster; he is trying to prevent it.

Virtue is tested by adversity. This is uncomfortable because it means that we cannot fully know our own character without having been tested. The man who has never faced a real test of his courage does not know whether he has courage. The man who has been tested does — though what he discovers is not always what he hoped.

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