Letter 463: The work of virtue is done slowly, Paul — so slowly that it sometimes seems nothing is happening.

To Paul. The man who is mad for the theater, my excellent friend, becomes mad with erotic passion. Flee that one, therefore, so that this one may not be brought to birth. For it is better that the disease not take root than, once it has taken root, to be torn out by the roots, which to some seems difficult, but to others impossible.

Ὁ θεατρομανής, ὦ βέλτιστε, ἐρωτομανής γίνεται. Φεῦγε τοίνυν ἐκεῖνο, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο τεχθείη. Ἄμεινον γὰρ μὴ ῥιζωθῆναι τὴν νόσον, ἢ ῥιζωθεῖσαν ἀνασπασθῆναι, ὅπερ τισὶ μὲν δύσκολον, τισὶ δὲ ἀδύνατον εἶναι δοκεῖ.