Letter 34

Isidore of PelusiumUnknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: An unnamed recipient
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore rebukes someone known for holding grudges.

Many people mock you as a grudge-bearer — and rightly so, since you use anger as a weapon of revenge. Anger that flares and passes is human; anger that is stored and nursed is demonic. The person who holds a grudge has made hatred into a companion — he feeds it, shelters it, and takes it to bed at night. Do you think this hurts your enemy? It destroys you. Grudge-bearing is a poison that the bearer drinks himself. Let it go — not because your enemy deserves forgiveness, but because your soul cannot survive carrying this weight.

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