Letter 63

Isidore of PelusiumChaeremon|isidore pelusium
From: Isidore of Pelusium, monk
To: Chaeremon
Date: ~410 AD
Context: Isidore expresses frustration with someone who ignores his counsel.

I am ashamed both when I write to you and when I turn away from your bad conduct. I am at a loss for what to say to you. Those who have asked me to respond are well-intentioned, but it is not that I am unwilling to explain what you ask — it is that your ears seem incapable of hearing. If you would stop your madness and receive what I am trying to lay out for you, I would show you what kind of outcome awaits the one who lives the way you do. A person with weak eyes cannot look at the sun — but the fault lies in the eyes, not in the light.

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