Letter 134

To the Same Person. Virtue in old age could not be called virtue, but incapacity. Therefore virtue must rather be achieved by us in youth, and in a young body we must display a gray-haired [i.e., mature and seasoned] disposition.

Ἡ ἐν τῷ γήρᾳ ἀρετὴ οὐκ ἂν κληθείη ἀρετή, ἀλλ’ ἀδυναμία. Οὐκοῦν ἐν τῇ νεότητι μᾶλλον τὴν ἀρετὴν κατεργαστέον ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐν σώματι νέῳ πολιδὸν ἐνδεικνυσθαι φρόνημα.