Letter 538

To Aemilianus the Protector. [protector, a court/military rank] "By a sad countenance the heart is made better," says Solomon [Ecclesiastes 7:3 LXX]. For if we are angered and made bitter against ourselves when we are stirred toward the unseemly deed, then beyond all doubt our soul will be made better, delighting and exulting in the beauty of the virtues.

Ἐν κακίᾳ προσώπου, φησὶ Σολομών, ἀγαθύν- θήσεται καρδία. Ἐὰν γὰρ ὀργισθῶμεν, καὶ πικραιν θῶμεν καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν κινουμένων πρὸς τὴν ἄτοπον πρᾶξιν, πάντως ὅτι ἀγαθυνθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν τερπομένη, καὶ ἀγαλλιωμένη τῷ κάλλει τῶν ἀρε τῶν.