11. In being fond of knowledge, be also
industrious because bare knowledge makes a person arrogant.
11. Often the knowledge of a deed becomes obscure
through its neglect, because whatever works are left completely in neglect,
even the memory of them will slowly disappear.
11. Render good works that you remember: then
others will be revealed that you had forgotten; and do not give way to foolish
thoughts about your forgetfulness.
12. Evil obtains its strength from one another in
the same way good increases (strengthens) one from the other.
12. When from your desire to please yourself your
heart shifts from its position of self-denial, then like a very heavy stone
that has shifted from its position on a slippery slope, it will roll
unrestrained.
13. He who accepts denigration and dishonor for
the sake of truth, walks in the path of the Apostles, having taken up the cross
and just as though being bound with shackles. However, he who does not do this
but undertakes to follow his heart is seduced by his mind and falls into temptation
and the devil’s snares.
13. If Christ died for us and we "should live
no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2
Cor. 5:15), — then clearly, we are obliged to serve Him till our death. How can
we regard sonship (to God) as a due reward?
13. He who does good and seeks rewards does not
labor for God, but for his own gratification.
13. A person that wants to sense the Holy Spirit
within himself without first fulfilling the commandments, is like a slave who
wants to be set free as soon as soon as the purchase money had been paid for
him.
14. Do not ask how a poor person can surrender to
enjoyments when he has no means, because to surrender mentally to the love of
enjoyments is more bitter than the actual deed.
14. During the departure of the soul, a sensual
heart (seeking everything pleasurable) becomes its dungeon and shackles, while
an industrious heart (inconveniencing itself for God’s sake), is an open door
into another life.
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