91. When you see someone enjoying power and wealth, mind you are never deluded by some demon into thinking him happy. Quickly bring death before your eyes, and you will never have a desire for any evil or worldly object.
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts
Category: TRANSCIENCE
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82. To escape death is impossible. Knowing this, those who are truly intelligent and practiced in virtue and in spiritual thought accept death uncomplainingly, without fear or grief, recognizing that it is inevitable and delivers them from the evils of this life.
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts -
75. We can choose to live with self-discipline, but we cannot become wealthy simply by an act of choice. Must we then condemn our soul by pursuing or even desiring a wealth which we cannot acquire by an act of choice, and which in any case is but a short-lived fantasy? How foolishly we act, not realizing that the first of all the virtues is humility, just as the first of all the passions is gluttony and desire for worldly things,
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts -
58. Any circumstance in which a man finds himself unwillingly is a prison and a punishment for him. So be content with whatever circumstances you may now be in, lest by being ungrateful you punish yourself unwittingly. This contentment can be achieved in but one way: through detachment from worldly things.
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts -
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 -
“He who has died to all things remembers death, but whoever is still tied to the world does not cease plotting against himself.”
—St. John Climacus -
I say these things, and shall not cease saying them, causing continual pain and dressing the wounds. And this is done not for the sake of the fallen, but of those who are still standing. For they have departed, and their career is ended, but those who are yet standing have gained a more secure position through their calamities. What then, you say, shall we do? Do one thing only, hate riches, and love your life— cast away your goods; I do not say all of them, but cut off the superfluities.
Saint John Chrysostom, On the Vanity of Riches
HOMILY Two
After Eutropios, having been found outside the church, was taken captive -
“A famous story, often retold, illustrates what is implied in being a pilgrim on earth. In the nineteenth century, a tourist from America paid a visit to the renowned Polish rabbi Hofetz Chaim. The tourist was astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench. “Rabbi,” asked the tourist, “where is your furniture?” “Where is yours?” replied Hofetz Chaim. “Mine?” asked the puzzled American. “But I’m only a visitor here. I am only passing through.” “So am I,” said the rabbi. We are all only passing through!”
The Restless Heart: Finding Our Spiritual Home in Times of Loneliness
Ronald Rolheiser -
I have found, in my own life, that the wages of living only for oneself, living in the pursuit of pleasure or burning out oneself on the things of this world, are ones of unrest. Just when one thinks they have found peace in something, just when one is comfortable or feels contentment of a kind, the transient nature of all things is revealed. We lose our favourite things, we lose our jobs we thought were secure, our friends and family turn on us, pass away, forget about us; nothing ever seems to last. As one looks closer and closer at the world, it seems to me to be only a transient thing, a signpost that points somewhere else.
It’s Easy to Give Up and Give In
Anthony N -
