Letter 489
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Alexandros
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the moral courage required to speak the truth when powerful people would prefer not to hear it — this is the particular form of courage required of clergy and teachers.
The courage required to speak truth to the powerful, Alexandros, is different from the courage required in battle — it has no immediate audience to sustain it, no excitement of action, no comrades beside one. It is a cold courage, exercised in a meeting room or a private conversation, with full awareness that what you are about to say may cost you something real.
This is nevertheless what is required of those who have the responsibility to speak. The teacher who tells powerful people only what they want to hear is not a teacher — he is a mirror. The advisor who confirms every decision rather than questioning the ones that need questioning has made himself useless. The bishop who never preaches anything that might displease anyone has chosen his own comfort over the gospel's demands.
Cultivate the cold courage, Alexandros. The world has plenty of mirrors. What it needs is truthtellers.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Alexandros
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the moral courage required to speak the truth when powerful people would prefer not to hear it — this is the particular form of courage required of clergy and teachers.
The courage required to speak truth to the powerful, Alexandros, is different from the courage required in battle — it has no immediate audience to sustain it, no excitement of action, no comrades beside one. It is a cold courage, exercised in a meeting room or a private conversation, with full awareness that what you are about to say may cost you something real.
This is nevertheless what is required of those who have the responsibility to speak. The teacher who tells powerful people only what they want to hear is not a teacher — he is a mirror. The advisor who confirms every decision rather than questioning the ones that need questioning has made himself useless. The bishop who never preaches anything that might displease anyone has chosen his own comfort over the gospel's demands.
Cultivate the cold courage, Alexandros. The world has plenty of mirrors. What it needs is truthtellers.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.