Shalom

Allois said, "Until you can say in your heart, 'Only God and I are in the world,' you will not be at peace."

Hard Work

Evagrius once said to Arsenius, "How is it that we educated and learned men have no goodness but Egyptian peasants have a great deal?"

Arsenius answered, "We have nothing because we go chasing worldly knowledge. These Egyptian peasants have got their goodness by hard work."

The Secret to Eternal Rest

Joseph asked Poemen, "Tell me how to become a monk."

Poemen said, "If you want to find rest in this life and the next, say at every moment, 'Who am I?' and judge no one."

~~Over Eternal Rest, 1894, by Russian artist Isaak Levitan (1860-1900).

Nothing Done for Show

Zeno, the disciple of Silvanus, said, "Never stay in a well known place nor sit with a famous man, or lay a foundation on which you might sometime build yourself a cell."

~~I was looking for a picture to illustrate this and was failing when I found this. This "Praying Monk" from Italy, circa 1870, is actually a nutcracker made out of hammerwood.

Temper, temper

Ammonas said that for fourteen years in Scetis he had been asking God day and night to give him strength to control his temper.

~~Temper by Jere Smith, 2005

More Than Anything

Theodore, surnamed Pherme, had three good books. He went to Macarius, and said, "I have three good books and I am helped by reading them. Other monks also want to read them, and they are helped by them. Tell me what to do."

Macarius replied, "Reading books is good, but possessing nothing is more than anything."

When Theodore heard this, he went and sold the books, and gave the money to the poor.

~~Italian monk reading (ca. 1826-1828) by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (Parigi 1796-Ville d'Avray 1875)

Lust

When Cyrus of Alexandria was asked about the temptation of lust, he said, "If you are not tempted, it is because you are sinning. The man who does not fight sin at the stage of temptation is sinning already in his body. The man who is sinning in his flesh has no trouble from temptation."

~~Love and Lust by Simeon Solomon (b. October 9, 1840 in London – d. August 14, 1905 in St. Giles's Workhouse). Solomon, an English Pre-Raphaelite painter, was the youngest of eight siblings, two of whom were also painters as was his mother.