Clement of Alexandria

“The Perfect Person's Rule of Life:The perfect person does not only try to avoid evil. Nor does he do good for fear of punishment, still less in order to qualify for the hope of a promised reward.The perfect person does good through love.His actions are not motivated by desire for personal benefit, so he does not have personal advantage as his aim. But as soon as he has realized the beauty of doing good, he does it with all his energies and in all that he does.He is not interested in fame, or a good reputation, or a human or divine reward.The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God.”

“Our superintendence in instruction and discipline is the office of the Word, from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains to love of truth, love of humanity, and love of excellence. And so, in a word, being assimilated to God by participation in moral excellence, we must not retrograde into carelessness and sloth. But labor, and faint not.”

“Do not think that we say that these things are only to be received by faith, but also that they are to be asserted by reason. For indeed it is not safe to commit these things to bare faith without reason, since assuredly truth cannot be without reason.”

“Those who have castrated themselves from all sin for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, are blessed; they abstain from the world.”