V.  And how shall this be?  Let us not adorn our porches, nor arrange dances, nor decorate the streets; let us not feast the eye, nor enchant the ear with music, nor enervate the nostrils with perfume, nor prostitute the taste, nor indulge the touch, those roads that are so prone to evil and entrances for sin; let us not be effeminate in clothing soft and flowing, whose beauty consists in its uselessness, nor with the glittering of gems or the sheen of gold16    Rom. xiii. 13. or the tricks of colour, belying the beauty of nature, and invented to do despite unto the image of God; Not in rioting and drunkenness, with which are mingled, I know well, chambering and wantonness, since the lessons which evil teachers give are evil; or rather the harvests of worthless seeds are worthless.  Let us not set up high beds of leaves, making tabernacles for the belly of what belongs to debauchery.  Let us not appraise the bouquet of wines, the kickshaws of cooks, the great expense of unguents.  Let not sea and land bring us as a gift their precious dung, for it is thus that I have learnt to estimate luxury; and let us not strive to outdo each other in intemperance (for to my mind every superfluity is intemperance, and all which is beyond absolute need),—and this while others are hungry and in want, who are made of the same clay and in the same manner.

Εʹ. Ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο πῶς; Μὴ πρόθυρα στεφανώσωμεν, μὴ χοροὺς συστησώμεθα, μὴ κοσμήσωμεν ἀγυιὰς, μὴ ὀφθαλμὸν ἑστιάσωμεν, μὴ ἀκοὴν καταυλήσωμεν, μὴ ὄσφρησιν ἐκθηλύνωμεν, μὴ γεῦσιν καταπορνεύσωμεν, μὴ ἁφῇ χαρισώμεθα, ταῖς προχείροις εἰς κακίαν ὁδοῖς, καὶ εἰσόδοις τῆς ἁμαρτίας, μὴ ἐσθῆτι μαλακισθῶμεν, ἁπαλῇ τε καὶ περιῤῥεούσῃ, καὶ ἧς τὸ κάλλιστον ἀχρηστία, μὴ λίθων διαυγείαις, μὴ χρυσοῦ περιλάμψεσι, μὴ χρωμάτων σοφίσμασι ψευδομένων τὸ φυσικὸν κάλλος, καὶ κατὰ τῆς εἰκόνος ἐξευρημένων: μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, οἷς κοίτας καὶ ἀσελγείας οἶδα συνεζευγμένας: ἐπειδὴ κακῶν διδασκάλων κακὰ τὰ μαθήματα, μᾶλλον δὲ πονηρῶν σπερμάτων πονηρὰ τὰ γεώργια. Μὴ στιβάδας ὑψηλὰς πηξώμεθα σκηνοποιοῦντες τῇ γαστρὶ τὰ τῆς θρύψεως. Μὴ τιμήσωμεν οἴνων τοὺς ἀνθοσμίας, ὀψοποιῶν μαγγανείας, μύρων πολυτελείας. Μὴ γῆ καὶ θάλασσα τὴν τιμίαν ἡμῖν κόπρον δωροφορείτωσαν: οὕτω γὰρ ἐγὼ τιμᾷν οἶδα τρυφήν. Μὴ ἄλλος ἄλλον ἀκρασίᾳ νικᾷν σπουδάζωμεν. Ἀκρασία γὰρ ἐμοὶ, πᾶν τὸ περιττὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ τὴν χρείαν: καὶ ταῦτα πεινώντων ἄλλων καὶ δεομένων, τῶν ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ τε καὶ κράματος.