Letter 237: The theater — that furnace of irrational love — captures the best of men and drags them into the worst of themselves.

To Alupius. That it is impossible to achieve virtue in the midst of tumults. Withdrawal from the tumults of the cities is so useful for salvation that the Son of God, having left the cities behind, pronounced blessed those who live in purity upon the summits of the mountains. By his deeds he taught what he was teaching: that it is impossible for one who has not torn himself away from earthbound things, and who has not ascended to the highest virtue, to be pronounced blessed by God, or to attain the good things to come. For he who sets his mind on the things above dwells there, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Ὅτι ἀμήχανον ἐν μέσῳ θορύβων ἀρετὴν κατορθῶσαι. Τοσοῦτον χρησιμεύει πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἡ τῶν θορύβων (76) τῶν ἀστικῶν ἀναχώρησις, ὅτι τὰς πόλεις καταλιπὼν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς, ἐπ' ἄκρων ὀρέων τοὺς καθαρῶς βιοῦντας ἐμακάριζε. Δείκνυς δι' ὧν πράττων ἐδίδασκεν, ὡς ἀδύνατον, τὸν μὴ ἀποσπασθέντα τῶν χαμαιζήλων, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄκραν ἀρετὴν ἀναθάντα, μακαρισθῆναι παρὰ Θεοῦ, ἢ τῶν μελλόντων τυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν. Ὁ γὰρ τὰ ἄνω φρονῶν, ἐκεῖ κατοικεῖ, οὗ Χριστός ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ καθεζόμενος.