Wherefore on no account suffer any evil habit to master thee; but, while it is yet young, pluck the evil root out of thine heart, lest it fasten on and strike root so deep that time and labor be required to uproot it.

St John Damascene
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Because when we say, "Thy will be done," and wholly surrender ourselves to God, it is then that the will of God is indeed done. But we, on one hand, say, "Thy will be done," and on the other hand, keep persisting in our own will. Well, what is God supposed to do then?

St. Paisios of Mount Athos
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Those who labor for the vain things in life strive to make those who labor for God's sake stumble, that they might not be confronted with examples that accuse their conscience; but in so doing they only embellish the crowns of conscientious laborers.

Ephraim the Syrian
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If one loses his cross, his life becomes cold and tepid, without cooperation with God.

Metropolitan Saba (Esber)
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It is difficult for you, but think of how it was for the Savior on the Cross. The end is near; life passes quickly. We are guests on earth, migratory birds.

Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Bogucharsk
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By talents we mean not only wealth, education, or fame. Talents are good conditions for salvation of the soul. Each of us has his own given talents. Poverty, sickness, various sorrows — these are all talents. From the worldly point of view, talents mean scholarly, musical, or artistic abilities. They are not sinful; it is good when such abilities are combined with a Christian life, and when they are dedicated to God. If an ability prevents us from living in a godly manner and saving our souls, then it should be abandoned. It is better to be a little stupider and simpler, but to be saved. What benefit is it to you if you gain the whole world but destroy your soul?

St. Nikon of Optina
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He whose will and desire in conversation is to establish his own opinion, even though what he says is true, should recognize that he is sick with the devil's disease.

St. John Climacus
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Steep and thorny is the path that leads to the Heavenly Kingdom. What is your path? It is the struggle unto blood against fleshly passions and self-love. Self-love is the soil upon which grow passions, emptiness of life, and sorrow.

Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Bogucharsk
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The Christian who is struggling in the world is helped when he has relationships with spiritual people.

Elder Paisios of Mount Athos
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Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.

Elder Paisios
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As it is impossible to verbally describe the sweetness of honey to one who has never tasted honey, so the goodness of God cannot be clearly communicated by way of teaching if we ourselves are not able to penetrate into the goodness of the Lord by our own experience.

St. Basil the Great
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Learn patience, patience, and patience, and humility will sprout with it - "grow out of it". Out of this comes true spiritual life, and not an imitation of it.

Fr. John Krestiankin
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The aim is for one to struggle with discretion and philotimo (responsive gratitude), according to one's powers... God knows the struggle of each person and what strength he gave to each person and he will reward each accordingly. I love all equally and am moved by those who struggle with responsive gratitude.

Elder Paisios of Mount Athos
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...God comes into our lives when we invite Him with all our being, opening the gates of our heart from the inside. He will not come uninvited... The moment you are willing to give over your whole self to God - surrendering your life, your loved ones, your health, your victories and defeats - He will come to you and help you in ways you never dreamed possible.

Fr. Vojislav Dosenovich
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The way of humility is this: self-control, prayer, and thinking yourself inferior to all creatures.

Abba Thithoes
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God does not come near to where flesh is in charge: God's contact with man is through his spirit, and the spirit in such a person is out of its proper order. He will feel God's calling for the first time when his spirit begins to claim its rights in the voice of conscience and the fear of God. And when a man finally makes his free deliberate choice for the spirit, then God will join that man and dwell in him. From that moment on begins the conversion of his soul and body, the whole inner and outer man, until "God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28), and the man which once was carnal, transforms into a spiritual being and becomes sanctified. What a marvelous privilege of mankind, and how few of us know about it, appreciate it and seek it!

St. Theophan the Recluse
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Orthodoxy is life. If we don't live Orthodoxy, we simply are not Orthodox, no matter what formal beliefs we might hold.

Fr. Seraphim Rose
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Cheerfulness is not a sin. It drives away weariness; and it is from weariness that despondency comes, and there is nothing worse than that. It brings with it everything negative.

St. Seraphim of Sarov
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We should never say that nothing is important. On the contrary, everything is important. Even the smallest of our actions impacts our eternal salvation.

Elder Sergei of Vanves
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A believer is not one who thinks that God can do everything, but one who believes that he will obtain all things. Faith paves the way for what seems impossible...

St. John Climacus
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God give us the strength to pursue the path of crucifixion; there is no other way to be Christian.

Fr. Seraphim Rose
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Only really great faith does not fear ridicule, or shrink from failure; it does not even think of ridicule and failure, as it does not doubt success.

Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
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A human being who does not endure courageously the unpleasant burdens of temptations, will never produce fruit worthy of the divine wine-press and eternal harvest, not even if one possesses all other virtues. For one is only perfected through zealously enduring both all the voluntary and involuntary afflictions.

St. Gregory Palamas
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If a person wants to get an idea about the pyramids of Egypt, he must either trust those who have been in immediate proximity to the pyramids, or he must get next to them himself. There is no third option. In the same way a person can get an impression of God: He must either trust those who have stood and stand in immediate proximity to God, or he must take pains to come into such proximity himself.

St. Nicholas of Serbia
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The man who endures accusations against himself with humility has arrived at perfection. He is marveled at by the holy angels, for there is no other virtue so great and so hard to achieve.

St Isaac of Syria
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Struggle to the very end. The whole point of the struggle is not to be delivered from the struggle, as it will go on forever. The reason to struggle is that the more you do, the better chances you have of being successful in your struggle.

Elder Sergei of Vanves
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