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of nature and slandering what is honorable as an abomination. For just as in the example we mentioned before concerning the water and the spring, when the farmer, channeling the water, draws it to a certain plot of land, and there arises a need in the middle for a small diversion, he will allow only so much to flow aside as is commensurate with the demanding need, so that it may again easily be mixed with the main stream; but if he unskillfully and unsparingly opens the channel for the water, he will risk the whole of it, having left the straight path, being swept into a ravine on the side— in the same way, since there is a need in life also for succession from one another, if one should use what occurs in such a way that, with spiritual things taking precedence, he uses the desire for such things sparingly and with restraint on account of the shortness of the time, this one would be the prudent farmer, cultivating himself in wisdom according to the command of the Apostle, not always being meticulous about the payments of those cold debts, but by agreement setting apart purity for leisure for prayers, one who fears lest through such an affection he should become entirely flesh and blood, "in which the spirit of God does not abide"; but he who is disposed to be weak, so as to be unable to stand manfully against the impulse of nature, would be better holding himself far from such things rather than going down into a contest greater than his strength. For there is no small danger that such a one, being deceived in the experience of pleasure, should think no other thing is good except what is received through the flesh with a certain affection and, having completely turned his own mind away from the desire for incorporeal goods, should become entirely carnal, hunting the pleasure in these things in every way, so that "he is a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God." Therefore, since because of the weakness of nature it is not for everyone to attain moderation in such matters, and it is dangerous for one who has been carried beyond measure to be stuck "in the slime of the deep" according to the psalmist, it would be profitable, as the argument suggests, to live without experience of such things, so that the passions may not gain entry against the soul on the pretext of what is permitted.

9.t Chapter 9. That habit is difficult to change in all things.

9.1 For habit is something irresistible in all things, having much

power to draw and attract the soul to itself and to provide a certain image of the good, in whatever one acquires a certain disposition and affection through custom. And nothing is so to be shunned by nature that, having become a habit, is not considered worthy of pursuit and desirable. The proof of the argument is human life, in which, though there are so many nations, the same things are not pursued by all, but different things are good and honorable among different peoples, with the habit among each creating the pursuit and desire for something. And not only among nations can one see such a variation of the same practices, being admired by some but slandered by others, but also within the same nation and the same city and family, in which one can see much difference arising in each from habit. Thus brothers, having come forth into being from one birth, have been widely separated from one another in life by their practices; and this is not yet astonishing, since even each individual man does not for the most part have the same judgment about the same thing, but as he may be disposed toward each thing from habit. And lest we speak of matters far from the subject, we have known many who were lovers especially of continence right from their earliest years

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φύσεως καὶ ὡς βδελυκτὸν διαβάλλων τὸ τίμιον. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ προρρηθέντος ἡμῖν τοῦ κατὰ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὴν πηγὴν ὑποδείγματος, ὅταν ἐπί τι χωρίον διο χετεύων ὁ γεωργὸς τὸ ὕδωρ ἐφέλκηται, γένηται δέ τις καὶ διὰ μέσου χρεία βραχείας ἀπορροῆς, τοσοῦτον μόνον δώσει παραρρυῆναι, ὅσον τῇ ἐπιζητούσῃ χρείᾳ σύμμετρον γινό μενον, πάλιν εὐκόλως ἀναμιχθῆναι τῷ ῥείθρῳ· εἰ δὲ ἀπείρως καὶ ἀταμιεύτως ἀνοίξειε τῷ ὕδατι τὴν ἀπόρ ροιαν, κινδυνεύσει τῆς εὐθείας ἀφέμενον ὅλον ἐκχαραδρωθῆ ναι κατὰ τὸ πλάγιον- τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ἐπειδὴ χρεία τῷ βίῳ καὶ τῆς ἐξ ἀλλήλων διαδοχῆς, εἰ μέν τις οὕτω χρήσαιτο τῷ γινομένῳ, ὡς προηγουμένων τῶν πνευματικῶν φειδω λῇ καὶ ὑπεσταλμένῃ κεχρῆσθαι τῇ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπι θυμίᾳ διὰ τὴν τοῦ καιροῦ συστολήν, οὗτος ὁ σώφρων ἂν εἴη γεωργὸς ὁ ἐν σοφίᾳ γεωργῶν ἑαυτὸν κατὰ τὸ παράγ γελμα τοῦ ἀποστόλου, οὐκ ἀεὶ περὶ τὰς ἀποδόσεις τῶν ψυχρῶν ἐκείνων ὀφλημάτων μικρολογούμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐκ συμφώνου καθαρότητα τῇ σχολῇ τῶν προσευχῶν ἀφορίζων, ὁ δεδοικὼς μὴ διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης προσπαθείας ὅλος γένηται σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα, «ἐν οἷς οὐ καταμένει τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα»· ὁ δὲ ἀσθενῶς διακείμενος, ὡς μὴ δύνασθαι ἂν πρὸς τὴν τῆς φύσεως φορὰν ἀνδρικῶς στῆναι, κρείττων ἂν εἴη πόρρω τῶν τοιούτων ἑαυτὸν ἀνέχων μᾶλλον ἢ εἰς ἀγῶνα κατιὼν μείζονα τῆς δυνάμεως. Κίνδυνος γὰρ οὐ μικρὸς παρακρουσθέντα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἐν τῇ πείρᾳ τῆς ἡδονῆς μηδὲν ἕτερον ἀγαθὸν οἰηθῆναι ἢ τὸ διὰ σαρκὸς μετὰ προσπαθείας τινὸς λαμβανόμενον καὶ ἀποστρέψαντα παντελῶς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀσωμάτων ἀγαθῶν ἐπιθυμίας ὅλον σάρκινον γενέσθαι, τὸ ἐν τούτοις ἡδὺ διὰ παντὸς τρόπου θηρεύοντα, ὡς «φιλήδονον αὐτὸν μᾶλλον εἶναι ἢ φιλόθεον». Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν διὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἀσθε νὲς οὐ παντός ἐστι τῆς εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα συμμετρίας ἐπιτυγχά νειν, ἐπικίνδυνον δὲ τὸ ἔξω τοῦ μέτρου παρενεχθέντα «εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ» κατὰ τὸν ψαλμῳδὸν ἐμπαγῆναι, λυσιτελὲς ἂν εἴη, καθὼς ὑφηγεῖται ὁ λόγος, ἀπείρατον τῶν τοιούτων δια βιῶναι, ὡς ἂν μὴ τῇ προφάσει τῶν συγκεχωρημένων εἴσοδον λάβοι κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ πάθη.

9.t Κεφάλαιον θʹ Ὅτι δυσμετάθετον ἐπὶ παντὸς ἡ συνήθεια.

9.1 Ἀμήχανον γάρ τί ἐστιν ἐπὶ παντὸς ἡ συνήθεια, πολλὴν ἔχουσα

δύναμιν πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἑλκύσαι καὶ ἐπισπάσασθαι τὴν ψυχὴν καί τινα καλοῦ παρασχεῖν φαντασίαν, ἐν ᾧ ἄν τις σχέσιν καὶ προσπάθειαν διὰ τοῦ προσεθισμοῦ τινα κτήσηται. Καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτω τῇ φύσει φευκτόν ἐστιν, ὡς ἐν συνηθείᾳ γενόμενον μὴ καὶ σπουδῆς ἄξιον καὶ αἱρετὸν νομισθῆναι. Ἀπόδειξις τοῦ λόγου ὁ ἀνθρώπινος βίος, ἐν ᾧ τοσούτων ὄντων ἐθνῶν οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ πᾶσι σπουδάζεται, ἄλλα δὲ παρ' ἑτέροις ἐστὶ καλά τε καὶ τίμια, τῆς παρ' ἑκάστοις συνηθείας τὴν περί τι σπουδήν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν ποιούσης. Καὶ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη τὴν τοιαύτην παραλ λαγὴν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων παρά τισι μὲν θαυμαζομένων, διαβαλλομένων δὲ παρ' ἑτέροις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔθνους καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως καὶ γένους, ἐν οἷς πολλὴν διαφορὰν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐκ τῆς συνηθείας ἑκάστοις ἐγγινομένην. Οὕτως ἐκ μιᾶς ὠδῖνος ἀδελφοὶ προελθόντες εἰς γένεσιν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασι τῷ βίῳ πλεῖστον ἀπ' ἀλλήλων ἐσχίσθησαν· καὶ οὔπω τοῦτο θαυμαστόν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ καθ' ἕκαστον ἄνθρωπος οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πράγματος κρίσιν ἔχει, ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν περὶ ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῆς συνηθείας διατεθῇ. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ τὰ πόρρω τοῦ πράγματος λέγωμεν, πολλοὺς ἡμεῖς ἐγνω ρίσαμεν ἐραστὰς μάλιστα τῆς σωφροσύνης εὐθὺς παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν