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 fore God, and will not esteem himself, and will cast his pleasures behind his back, [he will find that] such things are the instruments of the work of the soul.”

223. The same old man also said, “If a man observeth his grade he will not be troubled.”

224. The same old man also said, “Make thou the desire of thy lust of no effect through the remembrance of God, and thou shalt find rest.”

225. He also said, “A certain brother went to Abbâ Sîmôn to ask him for a word, and although he remained with him for seven days the old man returned him no answer; but as he was making himself ready to go away he said unto him, ‘Go, and take good heed unto thyself, for at present my sins have become a dense wall between myself and God.’ ”

226. Abbâ Alônîs said, “If I had not hidden (or suppressed) myself wholly I should not have been able to build myself.”

227. The same old man said, “A man is not able to know outside himself the thoughts which are in him, but when they resist him from within, if he be a warrior, he will cast them out from him.”

228. The same old man also said, “A man, wheresoever he cleaveth, is built up; look not upon thy mind.”

229. The old man often said, “Esteem not thyself, but cleave thou to him that leadeth a good life.”

230. He also said, “[In] this [life] we do not discern matters, and it doth not permit us to profit by the things which are good.”

231. The old man said, “If a thought about some bodily need come to thee and thou cast it forth once, and it come to thee a second time, and thou drivest it away, if it come to thee a third time, look not upon it, because it is war.”

232. A father who was about to die said to his sons, “Dwell ye not with heretics, and have no converse with a brother who hath a sister, and have no business with the Government, and let not thy hands be spread out to gather in, but to give to the poor who are in need.”

233. On one occasion Abbâ Evagrius said unto Abbâ Arsenius, “Since we are without learning according to the world, and we have no wisdom whatsoever, [how is it that] these Egyptian villagers possess such spiritual excellences?” Abbâ Arsenius (or Abbâ Macarius) said unto him, “We possess nothing whatsoever of the learning of the world, but these Egyptian villagers have acquired spiritual excellences through their labours.”

234. On one occasion Abbâ Arsenius asked an Egyptian old man about the thoughts, and afterwards another brother said unto Abbâ