Letter 175: The person who falls twice into the same trap does not deserve the same mercy as the one who fell once without...

To Sousimus. On the words, "To him who strikes you on the right cheek." [Matthew 5:39] Wise sir, if to be struck and to be wronged were a defeat, then Christ and Paul would not have said the opposite. For the Master decreed that, to the one who strikes you on the right cheek, you should offer the other also; and the Apostle exhorted, "Why not rather suffer yourselves to be wronged?" [1 Corinthians 6:7] For this is the law of these contests, since the manner of them is also more novel than ordinary; for the prize is not a wild-olive crown [the olive wreath awarded at the Olympic games], nor meals in the prytaneum [the public hall where victors were honored at public expense], nor bronze statues gleaming with gold; these are domestic and cheap and trifling things; rather, it is the kingdom of heaven, and a life that knows no ending. Do not, therefore, if you withdraw and [...], suppose that you are being defeated; but pursue the victory that lies hidden in what seems to be defeat. And if you marvel at what has been said, I will make my meaning plain by an example. A certain king, it is said, when he was about to fight a sea-battle against his adversaries, and saw that the enemy's ships were far more numerous, withdrew before the enemy as they advanced, and said: "I am not fleeing; rather, I am pursuing the advantage that lies behind." If, then, here too in what seems to be defeat and withdrawal the advantage and the victory lie, let us not come to close quarters with those who strike or wrong us, but let us yield to them. For this also is the law of the heavenly contests.

Εἰς τὸ, «Τῷ τύπτοντί σε εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα.» Οὐκ ἄν, ὦ σοφέ, εἰ τὸ τυπτηθῆναι καὶ ἀδικηθῆναι ἡττᾶ ἦν, καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τἀναντία ἔφησαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Δεσπότης τῷ τύπτοντι εἰς τὴν δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην παρέχειν ἐθέσπισεν· ὁ δὲ Ἀπόστολος· «Διὰ τί οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἀδικεῖσθε;» παρῄνεσεν. Κανδὲ γὰρ οὗτος τῶν παλαισμάτων ὁ νόμος, ἐπειδὴ καὶ καινότερος τῶν ἁπλοῦν ὁ τρόπος· οὐ γὰρ κότινος, καὶ σίτησις ἐν πρυτανείῳ, οὐδὲ χαλκαῖ εἰκόνες χρυσῷ ἀαστράπτουσαι· τὰ οἰκετὰ ταῦτα καὶ εὐτελῆ ἅπαλα ἐστίν· ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, καὶ ζωὴ θέλεις μὴ ἐπισταμένη. Μὴ τοίνυν, εἰ ὑποχωρήσεις καὶ φιλοουρηθείς, νομίζε ἡττᾶσθαι· ἀλλὰ δίωκε τὴν νίκην ἐν τῇ δοκούσῃ ἥττῃ κειμένην. Εἰ δὲ θαυμάζεις τὸ εἰρημένον, παραδείγματι, ὃ λέγω, ποιήσω σαφές. Λέγεται τις βασιλεὺς μέλλων ναυμαχεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἐναντίους, καὶ ἰδὼν πολλῷ πλέονας τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ναῦς, καὶ ὑποχωρήσας τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐπερχομένοις, εἰρηκέναι· «Οὐ φεύγω· ἀλλὰ καὶ διώκω τὸ συμφέρον ὀπίσω κείμενον. Εἰ τοίνυν κἀνταῦθα ἐν τῇ δοκούσῃ ἥττῃ καὶ ὑποχωρήσει ---VARIAE LECTIONES ET NOTAE--- (54) Καὶ τοὺς μὴ ἐλέγχ. Videtur redundare μὴ, vel pro eo leg. μέν. Ritt. (55) Pro ψῆφον cod. Vatic. 650 habet tantum φύσιν. Possin. (56) Cod. Vat. 650 legit Μαρώνῳ. In principio ep. pro οὐ μοι idem habet, εὖ μοι. Id. (57) Πραγμάτων. Legend. arbitror δογμάτων vel ῥημάτων. Nam πραγμάτων quidem tolerari hîc non potest, cum mox sequatur πράξεων. Ritt. (58) Inter φιλόθεος ἐστι τὸ idem cod. inserit καὶ σοφός. Possin. (59) Inscriptio nulla erat in editione Parisiensi; suppletur ex codice Vaticano 650. Ediz. τὸ συμφέρον καὶ ἡ νίκη κεῖται, μὴ ὁμόσε τοῖς τύ- πτουσιν ἢ ἀδικοῦσι χωρῶμεν, ἀλλὰ παραχωρῶμεν αὐτοῖς. Οὗτος γὰρ καὶ τῶν οὐρανίων ἄθλων ὁ νόμος.