Letter 209

To the Same Person. By habit you are ready to say that the devil is full of devices and of many wiles; and I too agree. But if we are willing to be sober, the devil will be evil to himself, and not to us; for the nature of wickedness is destructive only to those who possess it, whereas virtue, on the contrary, is able to benefit not only those who possess it, but their neighbors as well.

Ἔθω, ἔχεις προχείρως τοῦ λέγειν, ὅτι πολυμήχα- νός ἐστι, καὶ πολύτροπος ὁ διάβολος· συνομολογῶ κἀγώ. Ἀλλ' ἐὰν νήφειν θελήσωμεν, ἑαυτῷ πονηρὸς ἔσται ὁ διάβολος, καὶ οὐχ ἡμῖν· ἡ γὰρ φύσις τῆς κακίας μόνοις τοῖς κεκτημένοις αὐτὴν ὑπάρχει ὀλεθρία, ἡ δὲ ἀρετὴ τοὐναντίον, οὐχὶ τοὺς κεκτημέ- νους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς πλησίους ὠφελῆσαι δύναται.