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4.2 Therefore, the one looking toward this life and storing up for himself virtue, which no human boundary describes, will he ever consent to incline his own soul toward anything base and trodden underfoot? Will he admire earthly wealth or human power or anything else of those things pursued through folly? For if someone is still basely disposed toward these things, he would be outside of such a company and will have nothing to do with our argument; but if he thinks on things above and soars with God, he is altogether higher than such things, not having the common starting point of the error concerning such things, I mean marriage. For the desire to be above others, this difficult passion, pride, which indeed one who calls it the seed or root of every thorn of sin will not be wrong, this has its beginning especially from the cause of marriage.

4.3 For it is not possible for the most part for the greedy man not to allege his children as a cause, or for the vainglorious and ambitious man not to trace the cause of his evil back to his family, so that he might not seem less than those who came before him, and so that he might be thought great by those who come after, having left behind some tales for his descendants; and likewise also the other sicknesses of the soul, envy and malice and hatred and any other such thing, are connected to the same cause. For all these things are fellow citizens with those who are fluttered about this life, one who has become outside of them, as if from some high watchtower observing from afar the human passions, pities the blindness of those enslaved by such vanity and who judge the well-being of the flesh to be a great thing. For whenever he sees one of mankind conspicuous for something in this life, glorying in dignities or riches or powers, he laughs at the folly of those puffed up by these things and counts the longest time of human life according to the limit spoken of by the psalmist. Then, measuring this momentary interval against the endless ages, he pities the emptiness of the one who lifts up his soul over things so paltry and base and temporary. For what among things here is worthy of being called blessed? Honor, the thing sought after by many? -Since what more does it add to those who have been honored? For a mortal remains mortal, whether he is honored or not. -Or to possess many acres of land? To what good end does this lead for those who have acquired it, except for the foolish man to suppose to be his own things that do not belong to him at all? For he is ignorant, as it seems, because of his great gluttony, that "the earth is truly the Lord's and the fullness thereof"—"for God is king of all the earth"—but to men the passion of greed gives the false title of lordship over things that do not belong to them at all. "For the earth," as the wise Ecclesiastes says, "abides forever," serving all generations and nourishing now some, now others who are born upon it; but men, not being masters even of themselves, but according to the will of the one who leads them coming into life when they do not know, and again being separated from it when they do not wish, through their great vanity think they are masters of it, they who at times come into being and are destroyed from that which always remains.

4.4 He therefore who has considered these things and for this reason despises all that is considered honorable by men, but has love for the divine life alone, he who knows that "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass," when will he think the grass worthy of pursuit, which is today and tomorrow will not be? For he who has well considered divine things knows that not only human things have no stability, but that not even the whole world for eternity

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4.2 Ὁ τοίνυν πρὸς τοῦτον ἀποβλέπων τὸν βίον καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἑαυτῷ θησαυρίζων, ἣν οὐδεὶς ὅρος ἀνθρώπινος περι γράφει, ἆρα καταδέξεταί ποτε πρός τι τῶν ταπεινῶν καὶ πε πατημένων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἐπικλῖναι; Ἆρα θαυμάσεται τὸν γήϊνον πλοῦτον ἢ δυναστείαν ἀνθρωπίνην ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὑπὸ ἀνοίας σπουδαζομένων; Εἰ μὲν γάρ τις ἔτι περὶ ταῦτα διάκειται ταπεινῶς, ἔξω τοῦ τοιούτου ἂν εἴη χοροῦ καὶ οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν ἡμέτερον ἕξει λόγον· εἰ δὲ τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖ καὶ συμμετεωροπορεῖ τῷ θεῷ, ὑψηλότερος πάντως τῶν τοιούτων ἐστὶν οὐκ ἔχων τὴν κοινὴν ἀφορμὴν τῆς περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πλάνης, τὸν γάμον λέγω. Τὸ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἄλλους θέλειν εἶναι, τὸ χαλεπὸν τοῦτο πάθος ἡ ὑπερηφανία, ὃ δὴ μάλιστα σπέρμα τις εἰπὼν ἢ ῥίζαν πάσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀκάνθης τοῦ εἰκότος οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται, τοῦτο μάλιστα ἐκ τῆς αἰτίας τοῦ γάμου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχει.

4.3 Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τὸν πλεονέκτην μὴ τοὺς παῖδας ἐπαιτιᾶσθαι ἢ τὸν δοξομανῆ καὶ φιλότιμον μὴ εἰς τὸ γένος ἀνενεγκεῖν τοῦ κακοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἐλάττων δοκοίη τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ γεγονότων, καὶ ἵνα μέγας τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα νομίζοιτο καταλιπών τινα τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ διηγήματα· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ὅσα ψυχῆς ἐστιν ἀρρωστήματα, φθόνος καὶ μνησικακία καὶ μῖσος καὶ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον, τῆς αὐτῆς αἰτίας ἤρτηται. Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τοῖς περὶ τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἐπτοημένοις συμπολιτεύεται, ὧν ὁ ἔξω γενόμενος, καθάπερ ἐπί τινος ὑψηλῆς σκοπιᾶς πόρρωθεν ἐποπτεύων τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάθη, οἰκτείρει τῆς τυφλότητος τοὺς τῇ τοιαύτῃ ματαιότητι δεδουλωμένους καὶ μέγα κρίνοντας τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς εὐπραγίαν. Ὅταν γάρ τινα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπί τινι τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἴδῃ περίβλεπτον, ἀξιώμασιν ἢ πλούτοις ἢ δυνα στείαις κομῶντα, καταγελᾷ τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν διὰ ταῦτα πεφυσημένων καὶ ἀριθμεῖ τὸν μήκιστον χρόνον τοῦ ἀν θρωπίνου βίου κατὰ τὴν εἰρημένην ὑπὸ τοῦ ψαλμῳδοῦ προθεσμίαν. Εἶτα παραμετρῶν τοῖς ἀπείροις αἰῶσι τὸ ἀκαριαῖον τοῦτο διάστημα, ἐλεεῖ τῆς χαυνότητος τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς οὕτω γλίσχροις καὶ ταπεινοῖς καὶ προσκαίροις τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπαιρόμενον. Τί γὰρ ἄξιόν ἐστι μακαρισμοῦ τῶν ἐνταῦθα; Ἡ τιμή, τὸ παρὰ πολλῶν σπουδαζόμενον; -Ἐπειδὴ τί πλέον τοῖς τετιμημένοις προστίθησι; ∆ιαμένει γὰρ θνητὸς ὁ θνητός, κἂν τιμᾶται κἂν μή. -Ἢ τὸ πολλὰ πλέθρα κεκτῆσθαι γῆς; Τοῦτο δὲ εἰς τί πέρας χρηστὸν καταλήγει τοῖς κτησαμένοις, ἐκτὸς τοῦ οἴεσθαι τὸν ἀνόητον ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι τὰ μηδὲν προσήκοντα; Ἀγνοεῖ γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὑπὸ τῆς πολλῆς λαιμαργίας, ὅτι «τοῦ κυρίου μέν ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς»-»βασιλεὺς γὰρ πάσης τῆς γῆς ὁ θεός»-, τοῖς δὲ ἀνθρώποις τὸ τῆς πλεονεξίας πάθος ψευδώνυμον τῆς κυριότητος τὴν προσηγορίαν δίδωσι τῶν οὐδὲν προσηκόντων. «Ἡ μὲν γὰρ γῆ», καθώς φησιν ὁ σοφὸς ἐκκλησιαστής, «εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἕστηκε» πάσαις ὑπηρετοῦσα ταῖς γενεαῖς καὶ ἄλλοτε ἄλλους τοὺς κατ' αὐτὴν γινο μένους ἐκτρέφουσα· οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι, οὐδὲ ἑαυτῶν ὄντες κύριοι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ τοῦ ἄγοντος βούλημα ὅτε οὐκ ἴσασιν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν παριόντες, καὶ ὅτε μὴ βούλονται πάλιν αὐτῆς χωριζόμενοι, ὑπὸ τῆς πολλῆς ματαιότητος κυριεύειν οἴονται αὐτῆς, οἱ κατὰ καιροὺς γινόμενοί τε καὶ ἀπολλύ μενοι τῆς ἀεὶ μενούσης.

4.4 Ὁ οὖν ἐπεσκεμμένος ταῦτα καὶ διὰ τοῦτο περιφρονῶν ὅσα τίμια τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νομίζεται, μόνης δὲ τῆς θείας ζωῆς ἔχων τὸν ἔρωτα, ὁ εἰδὼς ὅτι «Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου», πότε σπουδῆς ἄξιον τὸν χόρτον οἰήσεται τὸν σήμερον ὄντα καὶ αὔριον οὐκ ἐσόμενον; Οἶδε γὰρ ὁ ἐπεσκεμμένος τὰ θεῖα καλῶς, ὅτι οὐ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα μόνον οὐκ ἔχει τὸ πάγιον, ἀλλ' ὡς οὐδὲ τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς