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their children are most ridiculous, they seem the most gentle and most beautiful of all, so also to the foolish mind are its own thoughts; even if they are the most wicked of all, they seem the wisest of all. But to the wise man it is not so with his own thoughts; but when he seems to be fully convinced that they are true and good, then most of all he does not trust his own judgment, but he appoints other wise men as judges of his own thoughts, lest he should run or had run in vain; and from them he receives confirmation.

3.59 (νθ') When you have conquered one of the more dishonorable passions, such as gluttony or fornication or anger or avarice, the thought of vainglory immediately assails you; and if you conquer this, the thought of pride succeeds it.

3.60 (ξ') All the dishonorable passions, when they rule the soul, drive out from it the thought of vainglory; and when all the aforementioned have been conquered, they send it back against it.

3.61 (ξα') Vainglory, sometimes being destroyed and sometimes remaining, gives birth to pride; and when it is destroyed, it produces conceit; but when it remains, arrogance.

3.62 (ξβ') Secret work destroys vainglory; and pride is destroyed by ascribing one's achievements to God.

3.63 (ξγ') He who has been deemed worthy of the knowledge of God and has richly enjoyed the pleasure that comes from it 14__292, despises all the pleasures born of the desiring part of the soul.

3.64 (ξδ') He who desires earthly things desires either food or things that serve the parts below the belly or human glory or money or something else that follows from these; and unless the mind finds something better than these to which it may transfer its desire, it will not be persuaded to despise these things completely. But incomparably better than these is the knowledge of God and of divine things.

3.65 (ξε') Those who despise pleasures despise them either out of fear or out of hope or out of knowledge and love for God.

3.66 (ξστ') The knowledge of divine things without passion does not persuade the mind to despise material things completely, but resembles a mere thought about a sensible object. Therefore it is possible to find many men who have great knowledge and yet wallow in the passions of the flesh like pigs in the mire. For having been cleansed for a short time through diligence and having attained knowledge, later, through neglect, they became like Saul, who, having been deemed worthy of the kingdom and having conducted himself unworthily, was cast out from it with terrible wrath.

3.67 (ξζ') Just as a mere thought about human affairs does not compel the mind to despise divine things, so also the mere knowledge of divine things does not persuade it to despise human things completely; because truth now exists in shadows and likenesses. And for this reason it has need of the blessed passion of holy love, which binds the mind to spiritual contemplations and persuades it to prefer the immaterial to the material and intelligible and divine things to sensible ones.

3.68 (ξη') Not in every case has one who has cut off the passions and rendered his thoughts 14__294 bare already turned them also to divine things, but he is able to feel passion for neither human things nor divine things; which happens only to those engaged in the active life who have not yet been deemed worthy of knowledge, who abstain from the passions out of fear of punishment or hope of the kingdom.

3.69 (ξθ') For we walk by faith, not by sight; and we have knowledge in mirrors and in riddles. And for this reason we have great need of occupation in them, so that by long study and meditation on these things we may form an inseparable habit of contemplation.

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ὦσιν οἱ παῖδες καταγελαστότατοι, πάντων φαίνονται ἐπιεικέστατοι καὶ εὐμορφότατοι, οὕτω καὶ τῷ ἄφρονι νῷ οἱ αὐτοῦ λόγοι, κἂν πάντων ὦσι μοχθηρότεροι, πάντων φαίνονται φρονιμώτεροι. Τῷ δὲ σοφῷ οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἑαυτοῦ λόγοι· ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν δόξῃ πληροφορεῖσθαι ὅτι ἀληθεῖς εἰσι καὶ καλοί, τότε μάλιστα οὐ πιστεύει τῇ ἑαυτοῦ κρίσει, ἀλλὰ ἄλλους σοφοὺς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ λόγων κριτὰς καθίστησι, μὴ εἰς κενὸν τρέχῃ ἢ ἔδραμε· καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν βεβαίωσιν λαμβάνει.

3.59 (νθ') Ὅταν τινὰ νικήσῃς τῶν ἀτιμοτέρων παθῶν, οἷον ἢ γαστριμαργίαν ἢ πορνείαν ἢ ὀργὴν ἢ πλεονεξίαν, εὐθὺς ἐφίπταται ἐπί σε ὁ τῆς κενοδοξίας λογισμός· ἐὰν δὲ τοῦτον νικήσῃς, ὁ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας διαδέχεται.

3.60 (ξ') Πάντα τὰ ἄτιμα πάθη κρατοῦντα τῆς ψυχῆς τὸν τῆς κενοδοξίας ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπελαύνουσι λογισμόν· καὶ πάντων τῶν προειρημένων ἡττημένων, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν αὐτὸν ἀναλύουσιν.

3.61 (ξα') Ἡ κενοδοξία ποτὲ μὲν ἀναιρουμένη ποτὲ δὲ μένουσα τίκτει τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν· καὶ ἀναιρουμένη μέν, οἴησιν ἐμποιεῖ· μένουσα δέ, ἀλαζονείαν.

3.62 (ξβ') Κενοδοξίαν μὲν ἀναιρεῖ ἡ κρυπτὴ ἐργασία· ὑπερηφανίαν δέ, τὸ τῷ Θεῷ ἐπιγράφειν τὰ κατορθώματα.

3.63 (ξγ') Ὁ γνώσεως Θεοῦ καταξιωθεὶς καὶ τῆς ἐκ ταύτης ἡδονῆς 14__292 ἀπολαύσας πλουσίως, οὗτος καταφρονεῖ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιθυμητικοῦ τικτομένων πασῶν ἡδονῶν.

3.64 (ξδ') Ὁ ἐπιθυμῶν τῶν ἐπιγείων ἢ βρωμάτων ἐπιθυμεῖ ἢ τῶν τὰ ὑπογάστρια θεραπευόντων ἢ δόξης ἀνθρωπίνης ἢ χρημάτων ἤ τινος ἄλλου τῶν τούτοις ἑπομένων· καὶ εἰ μή τι τούτων εὕρῃ κρεῖττον ὁ νοῦς, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν μετενέγκῃ, οὐκ ἂν τούτων καταφρονεῖν εἰς τέλος πεισθῇ. Κρείττων δὲ τούτων ἀσυγκρίτως ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσις καὶ τῶν θείων ἐστί.

3.65 (ξε') Οἱ τῶν ἡδονῶν καταφρονοῦντες ἢ φόβῳ καταφρονοῦσιν ἢ ἐλπίδι ἢ γνώσει καὶ τῇ εἰς Θεὸν ἀγάπῃ.

3.66 (ξστ') Ἡ ἄνευ πάθους τῶν θείων γνῶσις οὐ πείθει τὸν νοῦν εἰς τέλος καταφρονεῖν τῶν προσύλων, ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικε λογισμῷ ψιλῷ πράγματος αἰσθητοῦ. ∆ιὸ πολλοὺς ἔστιν εὑρεῖν τῶν ἀνθρώπων γνῶσιν ἔχοντας πολλὴν καὶ ἐν τοῖς τῆς σαρκὸς πάθεσι δίκην χοίρων ἐν βορβόρῳ κυλινδουμένους. Πρὸς ὀλίγον γὰρ ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καθαρθέντες καὶ τῆς γνώσεως ἐπιτυχόντες, ὕστερον ἀμελήσαντες ὡμοιώθησαν τῷ Σαούλ, ὃς βασιλείας καταξιωθεὶς καὶ ἀναξίως πολιτευσάμενος, μετ᾽ ὀργῆς φοβερᾶς ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπεβλήθη.

3.67 (ξζ') Ὥσπερ ὁ ψιλὸς τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων λογισμὸς οὐκ ἀναγκάζει τὸν νοῦν καταφρονεῖν τῶν θείων, οὕτως οὐδὲ ἡ ψιλὴ γνῶσις τῶν θείων πείθει εἰς τέλος καταφρονεῖν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων· διότι ἐν σκιαῖς νῦν ὑπάρχει καὶ εἰκασμοῖς ἡ ἀλήθεια. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δεῖται τοῦ μακαρίου πάθους τῆς ἁγίας ἀγάπης, τῆς συνδεσμούσης τὸν νοῦν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς θεωρήμασι καὶ πειθούσης προτιμᾶν τῶν ὑλικῶν τὰ ἄϋλα καὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν τὰ νοητὰ καὶ θεῖα.

3.68 (ξη') Οὐ πάντως ὁ τὰ πάθη ἐκκόψας καὶ ψιλοὺς τοὺς λογισμοὺς 14__294 ἐργασάμενος ἤδη αὐτὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα ἔτρεψεν, ἀλλὰ δύναται μήτε πρὸς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πάσχειν μήτε πρὸς τὰ θεῖα· ὅπερ ἐπισυμβαίνει ἐπὶ τῶν πρακτικῶν μόνον καὶ μήπω γνώσεως καταξιωθέντων, οἳ φόβῳ κολάσεως ἢ ἐλπίδι βασιλείας τῶν παθῶν ἀπέχονται.

3.69 (ξθ') ∆ιὰ πίστεως περιπατοῦμεν, οὐ διὰ εἴδους· καὶ ἐν ἐσόπτροις τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχομεν καὶ αἰνίγμασι. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλῆς δεόμεθα τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀσχολίας, ἵνα τῇ χρονίᾳ τούτων μελέτῃ καὶ ἀδολεσχίᾳ ἕξιν δυσαπόσπαστον τῶν θεωρημάτων ποιήσωμεν.