Letter 631

To the same person. He who gives thanks well to the good God for the boldness of other men before God and for their being pleasing to Him, as though on behalf of a member of his own household, makes the gift of his brother his own; and, having through fellowship in goodness seized his neighbor's crown, he shows it to be his own. For the praise given to your neighbor will do you no harm, but will even glorify you, if indeed you wish your mind to be sound. And so, even if your neighbor enters the house of a rich man and is honored, do not envy him, but rejoice; and if he is well regarded among the powerful, be glad; and by doing this you please the Savior of all.

Ὁ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑτέρων ἀνθρώπων πρὸς Θεὸν παρρησίας καὶ εὐαρεστίας εὐχαριστῶν ἀγαθόθως τῷ τὸν ἀγάθῳ Θεῷ, ὡς ὑπὲρ μέλους οἰκείου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, σφετερίζεται τὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ χάρισμα, καὶ διὰ κοινοκαγαθίας ἁρπάσας τὸν τοῦ πλησίον στέφανον, ἴδιον ἀποδείκνυσιν. Ὁ γὰρ εἰς τὸν πλησίον ἔπαινος οὐδὲν σε ζημιώσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ δοξάσει σε, εἴπερ βούλει ὑγιαίνειν τὸ φρόνημα. Κἂν τοίνυν εἰς οἶκον πλουσίου εἰσέλθῃ ὁ πλησίον σου, καὶ τιμηθῇ, μὴ φθονήσῃς, ἀλλ᾽ εὐφραίνου· κἂν παρὰ τοῖς δυνάσταις εὐδοκιμῇ, χαῖρε, καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶν ἀρέσκεις τῷ Σωτῆρι τῶν ὅλων.