53. Those who know God are filled with good impulses; desiring the heavenly, they despise worldly objects. Such men neither like nor are liked by many people. Consequently numbers of idiots not only hate but also ridicule them. And they patiently endure all that comes from their poverty, knowing that what seems to many to be bad, for them is good. For he who comprehends the celestial believes in God, knowing that all are creatures of His will; whereas he who does not comprehend the celestial never believes that the world is a work of God and was made for man’s salvation.
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts