Letter 1099: Virtue must be practiced with all one's strength — not merely admired from a distance.

To Kasianos. That God is not the cause of evils. Many who have shone in the bloom of the body have also shone brightly in the soul. If you do not believe it, look at the most chaste Joseph. For though he was fair in form and exceedingly beautiful to behold, as the Scripture testifies concerning him, and though the Egyptian woman pressed her grief upon him, yet he shone the more by the virtue of his self-control, and he quenched the flame that came from his youth (for he was not made of stone), and he trampled down the tyranny that came from her flattery. And flattery, in my judgment, is more powerful than fear. One must consider, too, that she who flattered him was a mistress of the house, adorning herself and fanning up the tunic [garment] of pleasure, and a woman, a fearsome orator to charm those who do not keep watch, and an old double snare of the devil, by which he has cast down not a few brave men. Yet for all that, he was seen to be higher than all these contrivances. And if you should wish to see the women's quarters also crowned in this matter, look at the most noble Susanna, who, set in a body of unspeakable beauty, convicted the elders of their licentiousness and did not lose the treasure of her self-control. And if many disparage the fair and the good, do not be astonished. For first, they seem to disparage them on account of those who have used their beauty wickedly. Second, because many make it their business to accuse. Third, because many among men, since they could not reach the soul itself [for we make light of things that are truly great], attempt instead to wound the outward adornment that is set about them. And they bear witness (for nothing prevents us from using the same examples again) - Joseph himself, who was slandered by his brothers and by his mistress, and Susanna herself, who was condemned by the elders. But an incorruptible judge crowned both him and her. Do not, then, blame the beauty, but rather the shameful soul that dwells in the most beautiful body and brings disgrace upon it.

Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν αἴτιος τῶν κακῶν ὁ Θεός. Πολλοὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος λάμψαντες ὥραν, καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς διελάμψαν. Εἰ δὲ ἀπιστεῖς, θέα τῶν σωφρονέστατον Ἰωσήφ. Καλὸς γὰρ ὢν τῷ εἴδει καὶ ὡραῖος τῇ ὄψει σφόδρα, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἡ Γραφή, καὶ ἡ Αἰγυπτία αὐτῷ ἐπιλυπήσασα· ἀλλὰ τῇ τῆς σωφροσύνης ἀρετῇ πλεῖον ἔστραψα, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἔσβεσέ φλόγα (οὐδὲ γὰρ λίθινος ἦν), καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κολακείας κατεπάτησε τυραννίδα. Φόβου δὲ κολακεία, παρ’ ἐμοὶ κριτῇ, δυνατωτέρα. Ἐννοεῖν δὲ χρή, ὅτι καὶ δέσποινα ἦν ἡ κολακεύουσα, καλλωπιζομένη, καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα (26) τῆς ἡδονῆς ἀναῤῥιπίζουσα, καὶ γυνή, δεινὸς καταγοητεῦσαι ῥήτωρ τοῖς μὴ προσέχοντας, καὶ παλαιὸν τοῦ διαβόλου δίπλον, ὅν οὐ πολλοὺς ἀνδρείους κατέβαλεν. Ἀλλ’ ὅμως τούτων ἁπάντων τῶν μηχανημάτων ὑψηλότερος ὤφθη. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν ἐθέλοις ἰδεῖν ἐν τούτῳ στεφανουμένην, θέα τὴν εὐγενεστάτην Σωσάνναν, τὴν ἐν σώματι καὶ ἀφράστῳ κάλλει ἐλέγξασαν τὴν πρεσβυτέραν (27) τὴν ἀσέλγειαν, καὶ τὸ τῆς σωφροσύνης μὴ ἀπολέσασαν κειμήλιον. Εἰ δὲ πολλοὶ διασύρουσι τοὺς καλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθούς, μὴ θαυμάσῃς. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοὺς κακῶς κεχρημένους τῇ ὥρᾳ δοκοῦσι διασύρειν. Δεύτερον δὲ, ὅτι πολλοὶ ἔργον τίθενται τὸ κατηγορεῖν (28). Τρίτον, ὅτι πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐπειδὴ αὐτῆς τῆς ψυχῆς καθικέσθαι τοῦ τῶν ὄντως μεγάλων ὀλιγωροῦμεν. οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν, τὸν γοῦν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῖς περικείμε- νον κόσμον τρῶσαι ἐπιχειροῦσι. Καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν (οὐδὲν γὰρ κωλύει πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς παραδείγμασι χρήσασθαι) αὐτός τε ὁ Ἰωσήφ, ὁ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν καὶ τῆς δεσποίνης συκοφαντηθείς· αὕτη τε (29) ἡ Σωσάννα, ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων κατακριθεῖσα. Ἀλλ' ἀδέκαστος κριτὴς κἀκεῖνον καὶ ταύτην ἐστεφά- νωσε. Μὴ τοίνυν τὸ κάλλος αἰτιῶ, ἀλλὰ τὴν αἰσχρὰν ψυχήν, τὴν ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ σώματι οἰκοῦσαν, καὶ τοῦτο ἐλυδρίζουσαν.