St. Clement continues his teaching by stressing that there is nothing praiseworthy about abstinence from marriage, unless “it arises from love to God and true chastity as a gift of God’s grace.”
—Fr. Pishoy Salama, Of All Nations: Exploring Intercultural Marriages in the Coptic Orthodox Church of the GTA
Category: TEMPTATION & LUST & VIRGINITY
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and, again, others who rush off into the extreme diametrically opposite, practising celibacy in name only and leading a life in no way different from the secular; for they not only indulge in the pleasures of the table, but are openly known to have a woman in their houses ; and they call such a friendship a brotherly affection, as if, forsooth, they could veil their own thought, which is inclined to evil, under a sacred term. It is owing to them that this pure and holy profession of virginity is blasphemed among the Gentiles.
On Virginity, Chap. 23
St. Gregory of Nyssa -
Thus even the most favoured live, and they are not altogether to be envied; their life is not to be compared to the freedom of virginity.
On Virginity, Chap. 3
St. Gregory of Nyssa -
The more exactly we understand the riches of virginity, the more we must bewail the other life; for we realize by this contrast with better things, how poor it is. I do not speak only of the future rewards in store for those who have lived thus excellently, but those rewards also which they have while alive here; for if any one would make up his mind to measure exactly the difference between the two courses, he would find it nearly as great as that between heaven and earth.
On Virginity, Chap. 3
St. Gregory of Nyssa -
“Adultery is always a matter of choice; no amount of lust, and no passion of love, can overwhelm a person’s capacity to choose between fidelity and betrayal.”
—St. John Chrysostom, On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom -
My child, it often happens that a man seeks ardently after something he desires and then when he has attained it he begins to think that it is not at all desirable; for affections do not remain fixed on the same thing, but rather flit from one to another. It is no very small matter, therefore, for a man to forsake himself even in things that are very small.
A man’s true progress consists in denying himself, and the man who has denied himself is truly free and secure.
—Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ -
You were more of an imperfect escape from reality due to the asymmetry in our feelings for each other.
Bimbo Ubermensch
The Ocean -
It’s the terror young men feel towards attractive women, who are nature itself, ever ready to reject them, intimately, at the deepest possible level. Nothing inspires self-consciousness, undermines courage, and fosters feelings of nihilism and hatred more than that.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
Jordan B. Peterson -
The dangerous thing is when the feelings of sin are aroused in a person, like lust, envy, or other feelings, so he tries to ignore their existence, and thinks that if these feelings were truly present, they would defile him. There is a difference, however, between a person who admits the existence of these feelings and then deals with them to make them godly feelings, and [a person who] ignores and suppresses them. When a person deals with these feelings and reveals them to the light of Christ, he is sanctified. But if he ignores and denies their existence, they will remain buried within him, and they may come out violently at some point in time, thereby causing devastation in his life.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Develop Your Personality
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Likewise, the devil may approach an adolescent young man, and entice him into satisfying his flesh by way of sensual pleasure, but the Lord says to him, “Wait until you are in a godly relationship through the Mystery of Matrimony. Then you will find perfect satisfaction.”
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Develop Your Personality
SO GOOD QUOTES 