Marcus Eremita

“A passion which we allow to grow active within us through our own choice afterwards forces itself upon us against our will.”

“Many of us feel remorse for our sins, yet we gladly accept their causes.”

“One man received a thought and accepted it without examination. Another received a thought and tested its truth. Which of them acted with greater reverence?”

“However great our virtuous actions of today, they do not requite but condemn our past negligence.”

“Love is the last of the virtues to be born in the heart, but it is the first in value.”

“Prayer is called a virtue, but in reality it is the mother of the virtues: for it gives birth to them through union with Christ.”

“The intellect cannot be still unless the body is still also: and the wall between them cannot be demolished without stillness and prayer.”

“He who does not choose to suffer for the sake of truth will be chastened more painfully by suffering he has not chosen.”

“When you first become involved in something evil, don't say: 'It will not overpower me.' For to the extent that you are involved you have already been overpowered by it.”

“Do not listen to talk about other people's sins. For through such listening the form of these sins is imprinted on you.”

“The devil belittles small sins; otherwise he cannot lead us into greater ones.”

“Evils reinforce each other; so do virtues, thus encouraging us to still greater efforts.”

“Do not say: 'I do not know what is right, therefore I am not to blame when I fail to do it.' For if you did all the good about which you do know, what you should do next would then become clear to you.”

“I have seen unlearned men who were truly humble, and they became wiser than the wise.”

“Concern yourself with your own sins and not with those of your neighbor; then the workplace of your intellect will not be robbed.”

“Ignorance makes us reject what is beneficial; and when it becomes brazen it strengthens the hold of evil.”