16. When
navigating, helmsmen use a mark in order to avoid reefs or rocks. Likewise
those who aspire to the life of holiness must
mark carefully what they ought to
do and what they ought to avoid; and, cutting off evil thoughts from the soul,
they must grasp that the true, divine laws exist for their profit.
17. Helmsmen and
charioteers gain proficiency through practice and diligence. Likewise those who
seek the life of holiness must take care to study and practise what conforms to
God's will. For he who so wishes, and has grasped that it is possible, can with
this faith attain incorruptibility.
18. Regard as
free not those whose status makes them outwardly free, but those who are free
in their character and conduct. For we should not call men in authority truly
free when they are wicked or dissolute, since they are slaves to worldly
passions. Freedom and happiness of soul consist in genuine purity and
detachment from transitory things.
19. Keep in mind
that you must always be setting an example through your moral life and your
actions. For the sick find and recognize good doctors, not just through their
words, but through their actions.
20. Holiness and
intelligence of soul are to be recognized from a man's eye, walk, voice, laugh,
the way he spends his time and the company he keeps. Everything is transformed
and reflects an inner beauty. For the intellect which enjoys the love of God is
a watchful gate-keeper and bars entry to evil and defiling thoughts.
21. Examine and
test your inward character; and always keep in mind that human authorities have
power over the body alone and not over the soul. Therefore, should they command
you to commit murders or other foul, unjust and soul-corrupting acts, you must
not obey them, even if they torture your body. For God created the soul free
and endowed with the power to choose between good and evil.
22. The
intelligent soul endeavours to free itself from error, delusion, boastfulness,
deceit, from jealousy, rapacity and the like, which are works of the demons and
of man's evil intent. Everything is successfully achieved through persistent
study and practice when one's desire is not impelled towards base pleasures.
On the Character of Men and on
the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and
Seventy Texts
Attributed to St.Anthony the Great
From Filokalia
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