He who willingly accepts chastening by affliction is not dominated by evil thoughts against his will; whereas he who does not accept affliction is taken prisoner by evil thoughts, even though he resists them.

When you have been insulted, cursed, or persecuted by someone, do not think of what has happened to you, but of what will come from it, and you will see that your insulter has become the cause of many benefits to you, not only in this age, but in that which is to come.

Do not attempt to benefit by rebukes one who boasts of his virtues, for he loves to display himself can not be a lover of truth.

One who has sinned cannot escape retribution in any other way than by repentance corresponding to his sin.

It is harmful to remember previous sins in detail. For if they bring you sorrow, they will estrange you from hope, but if they are remembered without sorrow, they will introduce the previous defilement. If you want to bring to God an uncondemned confession, then don't remember your sins in detail, but manfully endure the suffering that is coming because of them.

One evil receives strength from another. In the same way, good deeds also sprout one from another, and the one in whom they are found grows larger.

Guard your mind from self-praise and flee a high opinion of yourself, so that God does not allow you to fall into the opposite passion to the virtue for which you boast, for man does not accomplish virtue alone, but with the help of God who sees all.