No Reputation is a Good Reputation

A brother asked Mathois, "If I go to live in such-and-such a place, what do you suggest I do there?"

He said, "If you live there, don't try to make a reputation for yourself on some pretext, like saying either 'I will not join other monks' or 'I will not eat this and that.' This is the sort of thing that creates a bubble of reputation, and afterwards you will suffer from crowds. When people hear that sort of thing they flock there."

Work Continually

Mathois said, "I like to find some light but continual work, rather than a heavy work that is quickly finished."

Certain Death

Mathois used to say that a brother came and told him that the slanderer was worse than the fornicator. Mathois replied, "This is a hard saying."

Then the brother said to him, "What do you think about the matter?"

Mathois said, "Slander is bad, but it can be cured quickly; the slanderer can do penance and say, 'I have spoken wrongly,' and it is over. But lust is certain death."

~~From the illustration, Punishing the Lustful. Punishment in Hell for the deadly sin of lust is to be smothered in fire and brimstone.