XII.  Why wait for a fever to bring you this blessing, and refuse it from God?  Why will you have it through lapse of time, and not through reason?  Why will you owe it to a plotting friend, and not to a saving desire?  Why will you receive it of force and not of free will; of necessity rather than of liberty?  Why must you hear of your death from another, rather than think of it as even now present?  Why do you seek for drugs which will do no good, or the sweat of the crisis, when the sweat of death is perhaps upon you?  Heal yourself before your extremity; have pity upon yourself the only true healer of your disease; apply to yourself the really saving medicine; while you are still sailing with a favouring breeze fear shipwreck, and you will be in less danger of it, if you make use of your terror as a helper.  Give yourself occasion to celebrate the Gift with feasting, not with mourning; let the talent be cultivated, not buried in the ground; let some time intervene between the grace and death, that not only may the account of sins be wiped out, but something better may be written in its place; that you may have not only the Gift, but also the Reward; that you may not only escape the fire, but may also inherit the glory, which is bestowed by cultivation of the Gift.  For to men of little soul it is a great thing to escape torment; but men of great soul aim also at attaining reward.

ΙΒʹ. Τί πυρετὸν ἀναμένεις εὐεργέτην, ἀλλ' οὐ Θεόν; Τί καιρὸν, ἀλλ' οὐ λογισμόν; Τί φίλον ἐπίβουλον, ἀλλ' οὐ πόθον σωτήριον; Τί μὴ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν βίαν; Τί μὴ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν στενοχωρίαν; Τί παρ' ἄλλου δέῃ μαθεῖν τὴν ἔξοδον, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ἤδη παρούσης διανοήσῃ; Τί φάρμακα ἐπιζητεῖς, τὰ μηδὲν ὀνήσοντα; Τί κριτικὸν ἱδρῶτα, ἴσως παρεστῶτος τοῦ ἐξοδίου; Σαυτὸν πρὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἰάτρευσον: σαυτὸν ἐλέησον, τὸν γνήσιον τῆς ἀσθενείας θεραπευτήν: σαυτῷ προσάγαγε τὸ σωτήριον ὄντως φάρμακον. Ἕως ἐξ οὐρίας πλεῖς, φοβήθητι τὸ ναυάγιον: καὶ ἧττον ναυαγήσεις, τῇ δειλίᾳ βοηθῷ χρώμενος. Πανηγυρισθήτω τὸ δῶρον, ἀλλὰ μὴ θρηνηθήτω: ἐπεργασθήτω τὸ τάλαντον, ἀλλὰ μὴ συγχωσθήτω. Γενέσθω τι μέσον τῆς χάριτος καὶ τῆς ἀναλύσεως, ἵνα μὴ ἐξαλειφθῇ τὰ πονηρὰ γράμματα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετεγγραφῇ τὰ βελτίονα: ἵνα μὴ τὸ χάρισμα μόνον ἔχῃς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν: ἵνα μὴ τὸ πῦρ φύγῃς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς δόξης κληρονομήσῃς, ἣν τὸ ἐπεργάσασθαι τῷ δώρῳ χαρίζεται. Ἔστι γὰρ τοῖς μὲν μικροψύχοις μέγα, τὸ φυγεῖν βάσανον: τοῖς δὲ μεγαλοψύχοις, τὸ καὶ τυχεῖν ἀντιδόσεως.