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36 the pain of giving up all the things which pleased him, both great and small, and to which he had clung with earthly affection.

For this reason few reach perfection; for when they have overcome their greater faults with much toil, they will not continue to do violence to themselves, by bearing the vexation and weariness which the resistance of the countless little wishes and little movements of the passions involves. Thus these insignificant enemies are permitted to have their own way, and so obtain complete mastery over their hearts. All those who, if they do not take what belongs to others, yet cling inordinately to that which is lawfully their own, are of this class. If they do not take unlawful measures for the sake of obtaining honours, yet they do not, as they should, shun them; but, on the contrary, they covet them, and even sometimes by various ways seek to gain them. If they keep the fasts of obligation, they do not mortify their appetite as to superfluities, nor as to the delicacies which they crave for. If they live chaste lives, yet they do not abstain from some indulgences which hinder much their union with God and their growth in the spiritual life, and which even to the holiest persons are dangerous, and are especially so to those who fear them least, and therefore should be avoided by all to the utmost of their power.