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21 " nothing is so much opposed to fortitude as when one allows oneself to be overcome by gain. "
― Ambrose of Milan , The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible
22 " liberality is determined not by the amount of our possessions, but by the disposition of giving. "
23 " it is not nature which is answerable for the fault or which is liable to weakness. It is not sex, but valour which makes strong. "
24 " But sometimes even when faith is to be relied upon, youth is not trusted. "
25 " Your possession is your mind, your gold your heart, your silver your speech: The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the fire. A good mind is also a good possession. And, further, a pure inner life is a valuable possession. "
26 " But it is the duty of a just man to hide his feelings and say nothing, to preserve the fruit of a good conscience, to trust himself rather to the judgment of good men than to the insolence of a calumniator, and to be satisfied with the stability of his own character. "
27 " For the Church is the winepress of the eternal fountain, since from her wells forth the juice of the heavenly Vine. "
28 " The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. "
29 " What have we to do with tales and fables? An office to minister at the altar of Christ is what we have received; no duty to make ourselves agreeable to men has been laid upon us. "
30 " after that those sheep, I say, [ Jeremiah 2: 13 ] had refused the fountain of living water, the dew of moistening faith dried up in the breasts of the Jews, and that divine Fountain turned away its course to the hearts of the Gentiles. Whence it has come to pass that now the whole world is moistened with the dew of faith, "
31 " since complete piety is to believe rightly, so complete impiety is to believe wrongly. "
32 " when friendship springs from the fount of good-will it does not hesitate to endure the great dangers of life for a friend. "
33 " And Solomon says: Be not overmuch righteous; [ Ecclesiastes 7: 17 ] for restraint should temper righteousness. "
34 " What mark of His mercy have we more ready at hand than that He Himself, through the prophet Hosea, is at once merciful as though reconciled to those whom in His anger He had threatened? "
35 " let us not join in conversation with such as may be the cause to us of unholy fires. "
36 " For youth is prone to fall because the heat of various desires is inflamed by the warmth of glowing youth, and it is the part of a good doctor to keep off the materials of sin. For the first exercise in training the soul is to turn away sin, the second to implant virtue. "