10 quotes
The philosopher must be above all a free man, and not a slave of the passions.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
When bodily concerns predominate, everything in man is asleep: the intellect, the soul and the senses.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
Philosophy is a state of moral integrity combined with a doctrine of true knowledge concerning reality.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
Improbable details are often included in a story because of the deeper truth they signify.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
Who, when asked, will refuse to give what is needful to one who lives a holy life?
Ascetic Discourse (425)
We should not flatter, because of our needs, those who value highly the very things it is our vocation to despise.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
Men ... have been given legs that bend: in this way they can descend sometimes to fulfill the needs of the body, and at other times ascend to fulfill those of the soul.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
We should turn our attention to material things only in so far as some necessity forces us to do so. But always to be creeping on the ground in search of pleasure is defiling and degrading for someone with experience of spiritual knowledge.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
Why do we cling to money and possessions, and disperse our intellect among a host of useless cares? Our preoccupation with such things diverts us from what is more important and makes us neglect the well-being of the soul, leading us to perdition.
Ascetic Discourse (425)
By crouching a little we are able to spring upwards; and in the same way our faculty of discrimination, after stooping to attend to the needs of the body, can once more look upwards unimpeded, separating itself from all worldly thoughts.
Ascetic Discourse (425)