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he will not shrink from finding fault in vain and from behaving disgracefully in many such ways, but will dare all things, even if he must lose his soul, for the sake of bringing their reputation down to the humiliation of his own insignificance. And in addition to this, he will shrink from the sweat involved in labor, as if some numbness had been scattered over his soul; for to toil much and reap fewer praises is enough to cast down and turn to a deep sleep the man who is unable to despise praise, just as a farmer, when he toils on thin soil and is forced to farm rocks, quickly gives up the labor, unless he has much enthusiasm for the matter or has the pressing fear of famine upon him. For if those who are able to speak with great power need so much practice to preserve what they have acquired, the one who has gathered nothing at all, but is forced to practice in the midst of the contests, how much difficulty, how much confusion, how much turmoil will he endure, in order to be able to gather some small thing with much toil? And if someone ranked after him and holding a lesser station should be able to distinguish himself more than he in this area, a divine soul is needed here so as not to be caught by envy, nor to fall into despondency; for to be outshone by inferiors while he himself is established in a greater dignity and to bear it nobly, is not the mark of an ordinary soul, nor of ours, but of some adamantine one. And if the one who outshines him is gracious and very moderate, the suffering becomes somehow bearable; but if he is insolent and boastful and ambitious, one must wish for death for that man every day, so bitter will he make life for him, trampling on him openly, mocking him secretly, usurping much of his authority, wanting to be everything himself. But in all these things he possesses the greatest security in freedom of speech, in the zeal of the multitude for him, and in being loved by all his subjects. Or do you not know how great a love for sermons has now entered the souls of Christians, and that those who practice them are held in honor above all, not only by those outside, but also by the household of the faith? How then could one bear such great shame, when, as he speaks, all are silent and consider themselves annoyed and wait for the end of his speech as for some rest from their labors, while they listen to the other with patience even when he speaks at length, and are vexed when he is about to stop, and urge him on when he wants to be silent? For these things, though they may seem small and contemptible to you now because of your inexperience, are yet sufficient to quench zeal and to paralyze the power of the soul, unless one, having torn himself away from all human passions, practices being disposed in the same way as the incorporeal powers which are preyed upon neither by envy, nor by love of glory, nor by any other such disease. If, then, there is any man of such a kind as to be able to trample underfoot this hard-to-hunt and unconquerable and untamable beast, the opinion of the many, and to cut off its many heads, or rather not even to allow them to grow in the first place, he will be able easily both to repel these many attacks and to enjoy a calm harbor; but not having been freed from this, he brings down upon his own soul a manifold war and continuous tumult and the crowd of despondencies and the rest of the passions. Why is it necessary to recount the remaining difficulties which no one will be able to either speak of or learn, without being in the midst of the actual events?

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μέμφεσθαι μάτην καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ἀσχημονεῖν οὐ παραιτήσεται, ἀλλὰ πάντα τολμήσει, κἂν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπολέσαι δέῃ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὴν ἐκείνων δόξαν εἰς τὴν τῆς ἰδίας εὐτελείας καταγαγεῖν ταπεινότητα. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τῶν ἱδρώτων ἀποστήσεται τῶν περὶ τὸ πονεῖν, νάρκης ὥσπερ τινὸς κατασκεδασθείσης αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς· τὸ γὰρ πολλὰ μοχθοῦντα ἐλάττονα καρποῦσθαι ἐγκώμια ἱκανὸν καταβαλεῖν καὶ τρέψαι πρὸς ὕπνον βαθὺν τὸν οὐ δυνάμενον ἐγκωμίων καταφρονεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ γεωργός, ὅταν εἰς λεπτόγειον κάμνῃ χωρίον καὶ πέτρας ἀναγκάζηται γεωργεῖν, ταχέως ἀφίσταται τοῦ πονεῖν, ἢν μὴ πολλὴν περὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα κεκτημένος ᾖ τὴν προθυμίαν ἢ λιμοῦ δέος ἐπικείμενον ἔχῃ. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἐξουσίας δυνάμενοι λέγειν τοσαύτης δέονται τῆς γυμνασίας πρὸς τὴν τῆς κτήσεως φυλακήν, ὁ μηδὲν ὅλως συναγαγών, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀναγκαζόμενος μελετᾶν, πόσην ὑποστήσεται τὴν δυσχέρειαν, πόσον θόρυβον, πόσην ταραχήν, ἵνα πολλῷ τῷ μόχθῳ μικρόν τι συναγαγεῖν δυνηθῇ; Ἂν δέ τις καὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτὸν τεταγμένων καὶ τὴν ἐλάττω τάξιν λαχόντων, ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ μᾶλλον ἐκείνου διαφανῆναι δυνηθῇ, θείας τινὸς δεῖ ψυχῆς ἐνταῦθα ὥστε μὴ ἁλῶναι βασκανίᾳ, μηδὲ ὑπὸ ἀθυμίας καταπεσεῖν· τὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων παρευημερεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ἐν ἀξιώματι καθεστῶτα μείζονι καὶ φέρειν γενναίως, οὐ τῆς τυχούσης, οὐδὲ τῆς ἡμετέρας, ἀλλά τινος ἀδαμαντίνης ἂν εἴη ψυχῆς. Κἂν μὲν ἐπιεικὴς ᾖ καὶ μέτριος ἄγαν ὁ παρευδοκιμῶν, φορητὸν ὁπωσοῦν γίνεται τὸ πάθος· ἂν δὲ καὶ θρασὺς καὶ ἀλαζὼν καὶ φιλόδοξος, θάνατον ἐκείνῳ καθ' ἑκάστην εὐκτέον ἡμέραν, οὕτως αὐτῷ πικρὰν καταστήσει τὴν ζωήν, ἐπεμβαίνων φανερῶς, καταμωκώμενος λάθρᾳ, τῆς ἐξουσίας πολλὰ παρασπῶν τῆς ἐκείνου, πάντα αὐτὸς εἶναι βουλόμενος. Μεγίστην δὲ ἐν ἅπασι τούτοις ἀσφάλειαν τὴν ἐν τῷ λέγειν κέκτηται παρρησίαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ πλήθους περὶ αὐτὸν σπουδὴν καὶ τὸ φιλεῖσθαι παρὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων ἁπάντων. Ἢ οὐκ οἶδας ὅσος ταῖς τῶν χριστιανῶν ψυχαῖς λόγων ἔρως εἰσεκώμασε νῦν καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα πάντων οἱ τούτους ἀσκοῦντες ἐν τιμῇ, οὐ παρὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς τῆς πίστεως οἰκείοις; Πῶς οὖν ἄν τις ἐνέγκοι τοσαύτην αἰσχύνην, ὅταν αὐτοῦ μὲν φθεγγομένου πάντες σιγῶσι καὶ διενοχλεῖσθαι νομίζωσι καὶ τοῦ λόγου τὸ τέλος ὥσπερ τινα πόνων ἀνάπαυσιν περιμένωσι, θατέρου δὲ καὶ μακρὰ λέγοντος μετὰ μακροθυμίας ἀκούωσι καὶ παύσεσθαι μέλλοντος δυσχεραίνωσι καὶ σιγᾶν βουλομένου παροξύνωνται; Ταῦτα γὰρ εἰ καὶ μικρά σοι δοκεῖ νῦν εἶναι καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητα, διὰ τὸ ἀπείρατον, ἀλλ' ἱκανά γέ ἐστι προθυμίαν σβέσαι καὶ ψυχῆς παραλῦσαι δύναμιν, ἢν μὴ πάντων τις ἑαυτὸν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀνασπάσας παθῶν, ὁμοίως ταῖς ἀσωμάτοις μελετήσῃ διακεῖσθαι δυνάμεσιν αἳ μήτε φθόνῳ, μήτε δόξης ἔρωτι, μήτε ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τοιούτῳ θηρῶνται νοσήματι. Εἰ μὲν οὖν τίς ἐστιν ἀνθρώπων τοιοῦτος ὡς δύνασθαι τὸ δυσθήρατον τοῦτο καὶ ἀκαταγώνιστον καὶ ἀνήμερον θηρίον, τὴν τῶν πολλῶν δόξαν, καταπατεῖν καὶ τὰς πολλὰς αὐτῆς ἐκτεμεῖν κεφαλάς, μᾶλλον δὲ μηδὲ φῦναι τὴν ἀρχὴν συγχωρεῖν, δυνήσεται εὐκόλως καὶ τὰς πολλὰς ταύτας ἀποκρούεσθαι προσβολὰς καὶ εὐδίου τινὸς ἀπολαύειν λιμένος· ταύτης δὲ οὐκ ἀπηλλαγμένος πόλεμόν τινα πολυειδῆ καὶ θόρυβον συνεχῆ καὶ ἀθυμίας καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν παθῶν τὸν ὄχλον κατασκεδάζει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς. Τί δεῖ τὰς λοιπὰς καταλέγειν δυσκολίας ἃς οὔτε εἰπεῖν οὔτε μαθεῖν δυνήσεταί τις, μὴ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων γενόμενος αὐτῶν;