We often find comfort in telling what is painful in actual experience.

In truth, to know oneself seems to be the hardest of all things. Not only our eye, which observes external objects, does not use the sense of sight upon itself, but even our mind, which contemplates intently another's sin, is slow in the recognition of its own defects.

Who is the covetous man? One for whom plenty is not enough.

Lust hath these three companions: the first, blindness of understanding; the second, hardness of heart; the third, want of grace.

When someone steals a person's clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not also give the same name to the one who could clothe the naked but does not?

The human being is an animal who has received the vocation to become God.

First and foremost, the monk should own nothing in this world, but he should have as his possessions solitude of the body, modesty of bearing, a modulated tone of voice, and a well-ordered manner of speech. He should be without anxiety as to his food and drink, and should eat in silence.