“Let us not then be procrastinating until tomorrow. For we "know not what the next day may bring forth," nor let us say "we shall conquer this habit "little by little," since this "little by little" will never come to an end. Therefore, dismissing that excuse, let us say, "If we do not reform the practice of swearing today, we will not delay until later, when ten thousand things press upon us. Though it were necessary to die, or to be punished, or to lose all that we have, we will not give the devil the advantage of slackness nor the pretext of delay." Thus if God should perceive your soul inflamed and your diligence quickened, then he also himself will lend his assistance to change you.”

“Let us turn to him, dearly beloved, and not wish to defer our amendment until the end of our life. Let us listen to the prophet when he says, "Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day," "for you know not what any day may bring forth." O man, why do you delay from day to day, when perhaps today you are going to have your last day?”

“He that says, "When I am dying I will be baptized, lest I should sin and defile my baptism," is ignorant of God and forgetful of his own nature. For "do not delay to turn to the Lord, for you do not know what the next day will bring forth." Baptize also your infants, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For he says, "Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not." .”

“If we did anything in those struggles for our religion that redounds to our honor in the telling, wisdom commands us to leave it to others to tell. "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth." And it is this very thing that our omniscient friend has not been conscious of in devoting the larger half of his book to self-glorification.”

“No one crowns himself, and that person is justly ridiculed who devises praises for himself, for it is written, "Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." Though hypocrites may be able possibly to remain undetected and thus to seize the honors that people bestow, yet God knows your hearts. The judge cannot be deceived.… He knows who steals by fraud the honor which another truly deserves.”

“The stone is heavy, etc. It is indeed quite grievous for anyone to be weighed down by even a single capital crime, as if by the weight of a stone, or to be burdened by countless lighter sins, like pebbles or sand; but the anger of a fool is heavier than both, because these sins, once revealed as certainly evil as they are, more sharply prick the soul to chastise. Truly, because it is not a physical but a spiritual vice, the less it is perceived, the more it weighs down. Hence, he does not simply say anger, but the anger of a fool, is heavier than stone and sand. For the wise endeavor to examine and discipline their mental impulses as diligently as their actions and words.”

“Anger holds no mercy, etc. This is not said of all anger, for of a most mild and modest man it is written that he went out from Pharaoh in great anger (Exod. X). But he speaks of the anger of a fool, which he mentioned in the preceding verse, which loses the bowels of compassion once it has flared up, only knowing to loosen its reins in its own fury. Otherwise, useful and necessary anger is meant, Better is anger than laughter (Eccli. VII), because by the sadness of the countenance, the mind of the delinquent is corrected.”

“It is surely clear that concealing sin contributes to the death of the sick person, "for the sting of death is sin," says the Scripture, and also, "Open rebukes are better than hidden love." Let no one, therefore, conceal a sin in behalf of another, lest fratricide take the place of fraternal charity.”

“Better is open rebuke, etc. Hidden love in this place is called improper love, such as adulterous love, which due to its shamefulness is rightfully hidden from the wise to avoid reproach; to which rightfully open rebuke is preferred, as it is undoubtedly better to rebuke someone openly with the intent of correction than to sin secretly out of a shared intent.”

“Rebukes are good, and often better than a silent friendship. Even if a friend thinks himself hurt, still rebuke him; and if the bitterness of the correction wounds his mind, still rebuke him and fear not. "The wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of flatterers." Rebuke, then, your erring friend; forsake not an innocent one. For friendship ought to be steadfast and to rest firm in true affection.”

“When one who is loved is chastised, a pious act is exercised in his regard, for love has its wounds as well, which are all the sweeter for the harshness of their infliction. For a religious chastisement is sweeter than easy forgiveness, which is why the prophet says, "Sweeter are the wounds of a friend than the freely offered kisses of an enemy."”

“Better are the wounds of a friend, etc. It is better to endure wounds and affliction from the Lord, who as a father instructs us as children, than to be deceived by the flattery of the devil, who, to deprive us of our heavenly inheritance, is accustomed to favor our errors, as if what we do is a light evil, and the tribulation we endure beyond the measure of our sins is inflicted by the Lord's discretion.”

“The soul sated will trample upon the honeycomb, etc. The soul of the rich, who have their consolation and are told by the Lord, Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger (Luke VI), spurns the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom when preached; but the soul of those who hunger and thirst for justice finds it sweet to endure even the adversities of the world for the Lord, indeed to suffer death itself, knowing that through the cup of bitterness they will come to the joys of eternal salvation.”

“Like a bird flying away from its nest, etc. Just as a bird that neglects the eggs or chicks it was fostering and leaves them to be taken by other birds or animals, so indeed he who abandons the protection of the virtues in which he was progressing becomes a betrayer to the same virtues he seemed to possess, surrendering them to unclean spirits. Hence elsewhere it says: If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place. Which is clearly to say, If the temptation of the prince of this world, that is, the devil, presses upon you, be careful not to abandon the good work in which you were laboring.”

“Better is a neighbor close by, etc. It is better for you to have a neighbor who binds your soul with fraternal association than a brother who neglects to share common rights of faith and piety with you. The Lord clearly proved this in the parable of the wounded man by robbers, who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and of the Samaritan, who took care of him.”

“He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, etc. He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice extols him with the favor of excessive praise; either by favoring his evil deeds against justice, or by praising his good deeds more than is just. But he is likened to one who curses, because he greatly harms him, to whom by praising he either gives confidence in an evil action or diminishes the simplicity of a pure heart in a righteous work: namely that the good, which he had begun with an eye to the heavenly reward, he completes for the love of transitory praise.”

“Just as no house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some flaw of long standing in the foundation, or when by long continued neglect of its inmates, what was at first only a little drip finds its way through, and so the protecting walls are by degrees ruined, and in consequence of long standing neglect the gap becomes larger, and breaks away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river: for "by slothfulness a building is cast down, and through the weakness of hands the house shall drop through." And that the same thing happens spiritually to the soul the same Solomon thus tells us in other words, when he says: "water dripping drives a man out of the house on a stormy day." Elegantly then does he compare carelessness of mind to a roof, and to tiles that have not been looked after, through which in the first instance only very slight drippings (so to speak) of the passions make their way to the soul: but if these are not heeded, as being but small and trifling, then the beams of virtues will decay and be carried away by a great tempest of sins, through which "on a stormy day," i.e., in the time of temptation, the devil's attack will assail us, and the soul will be driven forth from the abode of virtue, in which, as long as it preserved all watchful diligence, it had remained as in a house that belonged to it.”

“This story was told: There were three friends, serious men, who became monks. One of them chose to make peace between men who were at odds, as it is written, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' (Matt. 5:9). The second chose to visit the sick. The third chose to go away to be quiet in solitude. Now the first, toiling among contentions, was not able to settle all quarrels and, overcome with weariness, he went to him who tended the sick, and found him also failing in spirit and unable to carry out his purpose. So the two went away to see him who had withdrawn into the desert, and they told him their troubles. They asked him to tell them how he himself had fared. He was silent for a while, and then poured water into a vessel and said, 'Look at the water,' and it was murky. After a little while he said again, 'See now, how clear the water has become.' As they looked into the water they saw their own faces, as in a mirror. Then he said to them, 'So it is with anyone who lives in a crowd; because of the turbulence, he does not see his sins: but when he has been quiet, above all in solitude, then he recognizes his own faults.'”

“Hell and destruction will not be full, etc. The torments of hell will not be filled, by receiving an end; similarly, the intentions of those who are wise in human matters are insatiable in the desire to sin. And hence they pay the penalties without end because they had the will to sin without end, if they had the nature to live without end.”

“It is not fitting to address simply to all who have believed in Christ instruction upon all points, for it is written, "With knowledge learn the souls of your flock." For the way is very different by which we establish in the paths of truth one who has but just now become a disciple, from one more confirmed in mind and able to understand what is the height and depth, and what the length and breadth. In the former, use simple teaching, in which there is nothing profound or difficult to understand. Counsel him to escape from the error of polytheism and fittingly persuade him to discern by the beauty of things created, the universal creator and artificer, who is one by nature and truly God.”

“Diligently know the countenance of your flock, etc. It is said to the pastor of the Church: Diligently care for those who it happens to you to be in charge of. Know the minds and actions of each one, and if you find anything in them of defiling vice, remember to correct it swiftly. For you will not always have the power to feed the Lord's sheep, but the eternal crown is which you will receive, if you have served well the office entrusted to you in your time.”

“The meadows are open, etc. The pastures of the heavenly sacraments, which were long closed by legal types, are now open. The novelty of evangelical truth and grace has appeared; the writings of the old fathers are gathered into the pasture of the Lord's flock; indeed taken from the proud Jews by the sickle of divine retribution, and given to the humble people of the Church for spiritual sustenance; according to what the Lord said to them, The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing its fruits (Matt. XXI).”

“Lambs for your clothing, etc. He calls the innocent lambs, the penitent kids. You will be clothed with the fleece of the lambs, while you, the pastor, improve by the good manners of obedient disciples, and seeing their laudable deeds, you yourself will be more glorious both in the adornment of virtues and in the warmth of love. You will buy the field with the kids, while calling sinners to repentance, you acquire a higher place for yourself in the land of the living.”

“Let the milk of the goats suffice you for your food, etc. Feed the flock entrusted to you with such diligence, that neither new milk in summer nor in cold will be lacking to you, but always it will suffice for you and yours; that is, insist so diligently on doctrine, that you also promote former penitents to the office of teaching; so that through them, who formerly seemed to be placed on the left side of the judge due to the foulness of vices, reasonable and sincere milk of the word may now be ministered to those with little understanding. The milk of the goats becomes food for the handmaidens, when those who serve the Lord not yet with perfect love, but still with servile fear, are refreshed with the example or words of those who have been saved through repentance, and are united to advance to the greater growths of virtues. Some have placed what is said: The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered from the mountains: lambs for your clothing, and kids for the price of the field; thus, "The monuments are open, the revived bodies have appeared, the sinners are separated from the saints, hay to be burned from the high places. The lambs are separated to the right, the kids to the left: lambs for the king's clothing, because he said, I will inhabit in them; the kids are sold for the price of the saints whom they harmed (or killed?) by fire."”