"Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it, a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge or we labour in vain."

Anthony the Great Religion See all quotes by Anthony the Great →

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“To one whose mind is sound, letters are needless.”

“St. Athanasius of Alexandria and St. Antony the Great”

“Hate the world and all that is in it. Hate all peace that comes from the flesh. Renounce this life, so that you may be alive to God.”

“To those who have an active belief, reasoned proofs are needless and probably useless.”

“Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness.”

“If we would despise the enemy, our thoughts must always be of God and our souls always glad with hope.”

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