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Avoid making idols either of things or of practices.

+ St. Macarius of Optina

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Asceticism is what keeps the "blameless passions" (hunger, the need for sleep, the desire for communion with people, etc.) from becoming blameworthy (gluttony, sloth, lust, etc.).

- Fr. Stephen De Young, Lord of Spirits: "Samsonite"

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These eight passions should be destroyed as follows:

1. gluttony - by self-control
2. unchastity [lust] - by desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store
3. avarice - by compassion for the poor
4. anger - by goodwill and love for all men
5. worldly dejection [despair] - by spiritual joy
6. listlessness [apathy] - by patience, perseverance and offering thanks to God
7. self-esteem - by doing good in secret and by praying constantly with a contrite heart
8. and pride - by not judging or despising anyone in the manner of the boastful Pharisee (cf. Luke 18 : 11–12), and by considering oneself the least of all men.

When the intellect has been freed in this way from the passions we have described and been raised up to God, it will henceforth live the life of blessedness, receiving the pledge of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 1 : 22). And when it departs this life, dispassionate and full of true knowledge, it will stand before the light of the Holy Trinity and with the divine angels will shine in glory through all eternity.

+ St. John Damascene