Epistle to Polycarp (Short Version)
Chapter 2: Encouragements
If you love the good disciples, no thanks are due to you for that; instead, try to gently win over the more difficult ones. Not every kind of wound can be healed with the same remedy. Calm violent attacks [of disease] with gentle treatments. In all things, be "wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove." You are made of both flesh and spirit for this reason, so that you can deal gently with the visible evils before you. As for those that are unseen, pray that God reveals them to you, so you lack nothing and abound in every gift. The times need you as pilots need the winds, and as someone caught in a storm seeks the harbor, so that both you and those under your care may reach God. Be diligent as an athlete of God: the prize before you is immortality and eternal life, which you are also convinced of. In all things, my soul is with yours, along with my bonds, which you have loved.