Letter 492
Isidore of Pelusium→Unknown|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Theognostos the Presbyter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the sacred nature of a confidence — those who reveal what has been entrusted to them in private destroy something more valuable than whatever they gain by the disclosure.
The person who reveals what has been entrusted to him in confidence has committed a betrayal, Theognostos. Not merely a social failure but a moral one. He has taken something given to him in trust and converted it to his own use — which is a form of theft.
The damage done is rarely recoverable. The person who trusted and was betrayed learns, correctly, not to trust again — at least not in that direction. And the betrayer discovers that the benefit he gained from the disclosure was far smaller than the cost: the reputation for discretion, once lost, is very hard to rebuild.
Hold what is given to you in confidence as sacred. Say nothing. The value of being someone who can be trusted is worth incomparably more than whatever advantage might be gained by talking.
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From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk at Pelusium
To: Theognostos the Presbyter
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore on the sacred nature of a confidence — those who reveal what has been entrusted to them in private destroy something more valuable than whatever they gain by the disclosure.
The person who reveals what has been entrusted to him in confidence has committed a betrayal, Theognostos. Not merely a social failure but a moral one. He has taken something given to him in trust and converted it to his own use — which is a form of theft.
The damage done is rarely recoverable. The person who trusted and was betrayed learns, correctly, not to trust again — at least not in that direction. And the betrayer discovers that the benefit he gained from the disclosure was far smaller than the cost: the reputation for discretion, once lost, is very hard to rebuild.
Hold what is given to you in confidence as sacred. Say nothing. The value of being someone who can be trusted is worth incomparably more than whatever advantage might be gained by talking.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.