Letter 913

To the Same Person. We ought not at all to reckon up the virtues we have already attained, but rather to devise others with each passing day, all of them good and worthy of praise, so that we may add to, and multiply, the spiritual talent given to you by the divine power, increasing it well right up to our last breath.

Οὐκ ὄφελομεν ὅλως ἀναλογίζεσθαι τὰς προειληφυίας ἀρετάς, ἀλλὰ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἄλλας, πάσας δὲ χρηστάς, καὶ ἐπαίνου ἀξίας ἐπινοεῖν, ὥστε προστιθέναι, καὶ πολυπλασιάζειν τὸ δοθὲν ὑμῖν ἐκ τῆς θείας δυνάμεως. άμεως πνευματικὸν τάλαντον, μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς καλῶς τοῦτο αὐξάνοντες.