Letter 89: Two things, I believe, convinced people to embrace the divine message: the power of the message itself, and the...

To Peter. One ought, if it is at all possible, to turn away from all conversations with women, since they have a certain tendency that conduces to laxity; but if this is impossible because of the pressure of necessities, or the stewardship of the poor, one ought to converse with eyes cast downward. For to most, or indeed to nearly all who have been overcome by the beauty of women, death has been let loose through the windows [a figure for the eyes; cf. Jeremiah 9:21] - that death which mastered even the great Prophet and king [David], when he gazed upon that deadly bath [Bathsheba bathing, 2 Samuel 11].

Πάσας μὲν, εἰ οἷόν τε, ὁμιλίας γυναικῶν ἐκτρέπεσθαι χρή, ὡς ἐχούσας τινὰ πρὸς χαύνωσιν ἐπιτήδειαν· εἰ δὲ τοῦτο ἀδύνατον διὰ περιστάσεις χρειῶν, ἢ οἰκονομίας πτωχῶν, κάτω νεύοντας διαλέγεσθαι. Τοῖς γὰρ πλείοσιν, ἢ καὶ πᾶσι σχεδὸν τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσι κάλλους γυναικῶν, διὰ τῶν θυρίδων ἀνέθη ὁ θάνατος, ὃς καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου Προφήτου καὶ βασιλέως ἐκράτησεν, ὅτε πρὸς τὸ λουτρὸν ἐκεῖνο τὸ θανατηφόρον ἀπέβλεψε.