Letter 43: Virtue's seeds were placed in us from the beginning; evil is not original or permanent.

I know that you greatly desire the knowledge of God, care for righteousness, and want to become free from passion through the commandments. There is no standing truly before God without purity, because the mind, when it is passionate, wanders and is scarcely steady while it busies itself with desires. It is held back from wandering when it becomes free from passion and meets bodiless beings, who fulfill its spiritual desires. It is possible for us to be completely delivered from evil, because from the beginning the seeds of virtue have been placed in us, but not the seeds of evil. It does not follow that because we are receptive of something, we also possess its power. Since we are able not to exist, we do not possess the power of nonbeing, if powers are qualities, and nonbeing is not a quality. There was a time when evil did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist. But there was no time when virtue did not exist, and there will be no time when virtue will not exist, for the seeds of virtue cannot be erased. The rich man in the Gospel persuades me of this: judged in Hades, he still has pity for his brothers. Mercy is a good seed of virtue. And if knowledge is the soul's wealth, while ignorance is its poverty, then wealth comes before poverty, and deprivation comes after perfection.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): οιδα σε οτι σφοδρα επιποθεις της θεου γνωσεως τε και της δικαιοσυνης επιμεληι και δι εντολων απαθης γενεσθαι θελεις· ου γαρ εστιν ως αληθως εσταναι εμπροσθεν θεου ανευ καθαροτητος, διοτι ο νους εμπαθης ων ρεμβεται και μολις ευσταθει περιεργαζομενος τα των επιθυμιων, κατερυκεται οε της πλανης οταν απαθης γενομενος τοις ασωματοις συντυγχανηι τας πνευματικας αυτου επιθυμιας αναπληρουσιν. ενδεχεται γαρ ημας καθολως απο της κακιας λυτρωθηναι οτι απ' αρχης σπερματα αρετης εν ημιν κειται κακιας δε ου. ου γαρ ει τινος δεκτικοι εσμεν τουτου και την δυναμιν εχομεν επει και μη ειναι δυναμενοι του μη οντος ουκ εχομεν δυναμιν ειπερ αι δυναμεις ποιοτητες εισι το δε μη ον ουκ εστι ποιοτης. ην οτε ουκ ην κακια και εσται οτε ουκ εσται αλλ ουκ ην οτε ουκ ην αρετη και ουκ εσται οτε ουκ εσται· ανεξαλειπτα γαρ τα σπερματα της αρετης. πειθει δε με και ο πλουσιος εκεινος ον τοις ευαγγελιοις κατα τον αδην χρινομενος και οικτειρων τους αδελφους· το δε ελεειν σπερμα καλον της αρετης. και ει πλουτος της ψυχης γνωσις εστι πτωχεια δε αυτης αγνωσια προτερος αρα ο πλουτος της πτωχειας και δεευτερα της τελειωσεως η αποστερησις Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.