3 July 2020
Unbridled Affections
WHEN
a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A proud and avaricious
man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble of heart lives in a world of
peace. An unmortified man is quickly tempted and overcome in small, trifling
evils; his spirit is weak, in a measure carnal and inclined to sensual things;
he can hardly abstain from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to forego
them; he is quick to anger if reproved. Yet if he satisfies his desires,
remorse of conscience overwhelms him because he followed his passions and they
did not lead to the peace he sought.
True
peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying them.
There is no peace in the carnal man, in the man given to vain attractions, but
there is peace in the fervent and spiritual man.
Thomas à Kempis, The
Imitation of Christ, p11
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