Whoever does not voluntarily withdraw himself from the causes of the passions is involuntarily drawn away by sin. These are the causes of sin: wine, women, riches, and robust health of body. Not that by their nature these things are sins, but that nature readily inclines towards the sinful passions on their account., and for […]
Conquer men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of justice to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.” + St. Isaac of Nineveh , The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 64, […]
“Do not fall into despair because of stumbling. I do not mean that you should not feel contrition for them, but that you should not think them incurable. For it is more expedient to be bruised than dead. There is, indeed, a Healer for the man who has stumbled, even He Who on the Cross […]
“Oppose no man in anything; do not quarrel, and do not lie, and do not swear by the name of the Lord your God. Be despised, and do not despise. Be wronged, and do not wrong. It is better for things of the body to perish with the body than for something pertaining to the […]
O glutton, bent on the worship of your own belly! It is better for you to cast a live coal into your stomach than the fried foods of rulers and princes.” + St. Isaac of Nineveh , The Ascetical Homilies, Homily 17
“Do not pass through the streets of the hot-tempered and quarrelsome, lest your heart be filled with anger, and the darkness of delusion dominate your soul.” + St. Isaac of Nineveh , The Ascetical Homilies, Homily 17
Do not reckon as a truly wise man that one whose mind is subject to fear on account of temporal life.” + St. Isaac of Nineveh, “Six Treatises on the Behaviour of Excellence”, Mystical Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh
“Recollect the fall of the strong, that thou mayest remain humble under thy virtues. And think of the heavy sins of those who fell and repented; and of the praise and honour they received afterwards, so that thou mayest acquire courage during repentance.” + St. Isaac of Nineveh , “Six Treatises on the Behaviour of […]
A humble man is never rash, hasty or perturbed, never has any hot and volatile thoughts, but at all times remains calm. Even if heaven were to fall and cleave to the earth, the humble man would not be dismayed. Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet. There is no […]
Do not disdain those who are deformed from birth, because all of us will go to the grave equally privileged. + St. Isaac of Nineveh, “Homily 5: On Keeping Oneself Remote From the World and From All Things That Disquiet the Intellect,” Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian