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.

Just as we would have no need of the farmer's labor and toil if we were living amid the delights of paradise, so also we would not require the medical art for relief if we were immune to disease, as was the case, by God's gift, at the time of Creation before the Fall.

If you begin to guard wealth it will not be yours. But if you begin to distribute it, you will not lose it.

If every man took only what was sufficient for his needs, leaving the rest to those in want, there would be no rich and no poor.

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

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

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