The Desert Fathers

XLIX. The abbot Moses came to the well to draw water, and he saw the brother Zachary praying, and the Spirit of God resting over him.

LXX. The abbot Poemen said with a groan, "All virtues are gone into my cell but one, and by it doth a man stand." And the brethren asked him what that great virtue might be. And the old man said, "That a man should ever be rebuking himself."

LXXXIII. An old man said, "See that thou despise not the brother that stands by thee: for thou knowest not whether the spirit of God be in thee or in him."

XCI. An old man said, "There is no stronger virtue than to scorn no man."

XCIV. An old man said, "The man that every hour hath death before his eyes, will conquer meanness of soul."

XCV. An old man said, "Be a free man in thy speech, not a slave."