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724 Of the same.Let not ungodly men deceive you, nor walk in the way with them; but turn your foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil.

Of the same.He who despises a matter will be despised by it. Of the same.As an unripe grape is harmful to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so

is lawlessness to those who practice it. Sirach. He who does evil things, it will be rolled back upon him, and he will not know from where

it came to him. Of Basil.Of possessions, only virtue is inalienable. The practice of virtue is a precious possession to the one having it, but a most pleasant sight to those

who encounter it. For just as giving light automatically follows fire, and being fragrant, myrrh;

so too does usefulness necessarily follow good deeds. The beginning toward the attainment of good things is the withdrawal from evil things. Turn away

for, he says, from evil, and do good. Of the Theologian. Evil is by nature at hand, and the course toward the worse is broad, or a stream

flowing down a slope, or some straw 15Ε_014 easily ignited by a spark and wind and becoming a flame, and consumed along with its own offspring.

It is not at all easy to find the preeminent among the virtues, and to give to it the primacy and the victor's prize; just as it is not easy in a meadow full of flowers and fragrance to find the most beautiful and most fragrant of the flowers, with one after another drawing the sense of smell and the sight to itself, and persuading one to pick it first.

Chrysostom.The possession of the good is rare and uphill, even if the attraction and invitation be great.

Virtue is without reward, so that it may remain virtue, looking only toward the good. Not only does a skillful deed make one famous, but also wickedness overcoming wicked

acclaim. It is not possible for one who practices virtue not to have many enemies; but this is nothing

to the virtuous man; for through such things he is more greatly resplendent. Many, often shunning virtues themselves on account of the 725 labors, on account of

the good report that comes from them choose to practice them. Just as the end of life is the beginning of death, so also of the course according to virtue

the cessation is the beginning of the course according to vice. That virtue is hard to attain, with countless sweats and labors, with zeal and

toil being achieved with difficulty, we have been taught by the divine Scripture. Chrysostom.For if among men on earth he who transgresses the laws,

undergoes inexorable punishment; by how much more will he be given over to unbearable torments, who disregards the commands of the heavenly Master?

Just as on the cithara it is not enough to produce the melody on only one string, but one must go over them all with the proper rhythm, so also in the case of the virtue according to the soul, one law is not enough for our salvation, but we must keep them all with exactness.

15Ε_016 Let us not say, then, that so-and-so is by nature evil, and so-and-so is by nature good. For if one is by nature good, he will never be able to become evil; and if one is by nature evil, he will never become good.

Darkness does not withstand the presence of light; sickness does not stand when health has taken hold; the passions are not active in the presence of dispassion.

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724 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.Μή σε πλανήσωσιν ἄνδρες ἀσεβεῖς, μηδέ πορευθῇς ἐν ὁδῷ μετ᾿ αὐτῶν· ἔκκλινον δέ τόν πόδα σου ἀπό τῶν τρίβων αὐτῶν· οἱ γάρ πόδες αὐτῶν εἰς κακίαν τρέχουσιν.

Τοῦ αὐτοῦὍς καταφρονεῖ πράγματος, καταφρονηθήσεται ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ.Ὥσπερ ὄμφαξ ὁδοῦσι βλαβερόν καί καπνός ὄμμασιν, οὕτω

παρανομία τοῖς χρωμένοις αὐτῇ. Σιράχ. Ὁ ποιῶν πανηρά, εἰς αὐτόν κυλισθήσεται, καί οὐ μή ἐπιγνῷ πόθεν

ἤκει αὐτῷ. Βασιλείου.Μόνη κτημάτων ἡ ἀρετή ἀναφαίρετον. Ἀρετῆς ἄσκησις, τίμιον μέν κτῆμα τῷ ἔχοντι· ἤδιστον δέ θέαμα τοῖς

ἐντυγχάνουσιν. Ὥσπερ γάρ τῷ πυρί αὐτομάτως ἕπεται τό φωτίζειν, καί τῷ μύρῳ τό εὐωδεῖν·

οὕτω καί ταῖς ἀγαθαῖς πράξεσιν ἀναγκαίως ἀκολουθεῖ τό ὠφέλιμον. Ἀρχή πρός τήν ἀνάληψιν τῶν καλῶν ἡ ἀναχώρησις τῶν κακῶν. Ἔκκλινον

γάρ, φησίν, ἀπό κακοῦ, καί ποίησον ἀγαθόν. Θεολόγου. Φύσει πρόχειρον ἡ κακία, καί πολύς ἐπί τό χεῖρον ὁ δρόμος, ἤ ῥοῦς

κατά πρανοῦς ῥέων, ἤ καλάμη 15Ε_014 τις πρός σπινθῆρα καί ἄνεμον ῥαδίως ἐξαπτομένη καί γινομένη φλόξ, καί συνδαπανωμένη τῷ οἰκείῳ γεννήματι.

Οὐ πάνυ τι ῥάδιόν ἐστι τῶν ἀρετῶν τήν νικῶσαν εὑρεῖν, καί ταύτῃ δοῦναι τά πρεσβεῖα καί τά νικητήρια· ὥσπερ οὐδέν ἐν λειμῶνι πολυανθεῖ καί εὐώδει τῶν ἀνθέων τό κάλλιστον καί εὐωδέστατον, ἄλλοτε ἄλλου τήν ὄσφρησιν καί τήν ὄψιν πρός ἑαυτό μεθέλκοντος, καί πρῶτον δρέπεσθαι πείθοντος.

Χρυσοστ.Σπάνιον ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ κτῆσις καί πρόσαντες, κἄν εἰ πολύ τό μεθέλκον εἴη καί προκαλούμενον.

Ἄμισθος ἡ ἀρετή, ἵνα καί ἀρετή μείνῃ, πρός τό καλόν μόνον βλέπουσα. Ποιεῖ περιβοήτους οὐ δεξιά πρᾶξις μόνον, ἀλλά κακία νικῶσα πονηράν

εὐδοκίμησιν. Οὐκ ἔστι τόν ἀρετῆς ἐπιμελούμενον, μή πολλούς ἔχειν ἐχθρούς· ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέν

τοῦτο πρός τόν ἐνάρετον· διά γάρ τῶν τοιούτων λαμπρότερος ἔστι μειζόνως. Πολλοί πολλάκις αὐτάς τάς ἀρετάς διά τούς 725 πόνους φεύγοντες, διά

τήν ἐξ αὐτῶν εὐφημίαν αἱροῦνται ποιεῖν. Ὥσπερ τό τῆς ζωῆς τέλος ἀρχή θανάτου ἐστίν, οὕτως καί τοῦ κατ' ἀρετήν

δρόμου ἡ στάσις, ἀρχή τοῦ κατά κακίαν γίνεται δρόμου. ∆υσεπίτευκτον μέν εἶναι τήν ἀρετήν, μυρίοις ἱδρῶσι καί πόνοις σπουδῇ καί

καμάτῳ μόγις κατορθουμένην, παρά τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ἐδιδάχθημεν. Χρυσοστ.Εἰ γάρ τῶν ἐπί γῆς ἀνθρώπων ὁ παραβαίνων τούς νόμους,

ἀπαραίτητον ὑφίσταται τήν κόλασιν· πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἀφορήτοις ἐκδοθήσεται βασάνοις, ὁ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου ∆εσπότου ἀθετῶν τά προστάγματα;

Ὥσπερ ἐπί τῆς κιθάρας οὐκ ἀρκεῖ μόνον ἐπί μιᾶς νευρᾶς τήν μελωδίαν ἐργάζεσθαι, ἀλλά πάσας ἐπιέναι δεῖ μετά ῥυθμοῦ τοῦ προσηκόντος, οὕτω καί ἐπί τῆς κατά τήν ψυχήν ἀρετῆς, οὐκ ἀρκεῖ ἡμῖν νόμος εἰς σωτηρίαν εἷς, ἀλλά δεῖ πάντας αὐτούς μετά ἀκριβείας φυλάττειν.

15Ε_016 Μή τοίνυν λέγωμεν, ὅτι ὁ δεῖνα φύσει κακός, καί ὁ δεῖνα φύσει καλός. Εἰ γάρ φύσει ἀγαθός, οὐδέποτε δυνήσεται γενέσθαι κακός· καί εἰ φύσει κακός, οὐδέποτε γενήσεται ἀγαθός.

Οὐχ ὑπομένει τό σκότος τήν τοῦ φωτός παρουσίαν· οὐ νόσος ὑγείας ἐπιλαβούσης ἵσταται· οὐκ ἐνεργεῖ τά πάθη τῆς ἀπαθείας παρούσης.