Letter 31: Why did you choose the narrow way and make vows to God, only to walk the broad road that leads to death?

To Maron. Short-lived is not only your office, but your very life as well. Why, then, do you sin without end, contriving for yourself in a few hours an eternal punishment? Understand, therefore, the whole many-turning and ever-shifting faithlessness of human affairs, and strive rather to be known for good and upright deeds, for which there are praises even here, and whose rewards in the age to come are not lost.

Βραχυτελῆ οὐ μόνον τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν ἔχεις τὴν ζωήν. Τί τοίνυν ἁμαρτάνεις ἀτελεύτητα, ἐν ὀλίγαις ὥραις τὴν αἰώνιον ἑαυτῷ κατασκευάζων κόλασιν; Καταμαθὼν οὖν πᾶσαν τὴν πολύστροφον καὶ πολύτρεπτον τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπιστίαν, μᾶλλον ἐπὶ χρηστοῖς γνωρίζεσθαι κατορθώμασι σπούδαζε, ὧν καὶ ἐνταῦθα τυγχάνουσιν ἔπαινοι, καὶ οἱ μέλλοντες μισθοὶ οὐκ ἀπόλλυνται.