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But the cheek is then adorned like a turtledove, when it carefully hides and conceals virtue as much as possible, trying to deflect from itself the praise of those who see it, like a turtledove, choosing the desert as a veil of what it has done, firmly holding the intention to conceal it, although everyone loudly cries out for the deed. For an act then becomes vain when the heart intends to do it for show. And while it does not turn its gaze to the capture of human glory, although virtue shines clearer than light (it, like light, should shine with its own rays), until then the desire to be unknown and unnoticed remains in the will, it does what is pleasing only to God, does not pay attention to those who watch, whether they see, whether they praise, considers everything vain and in vain that does not contribute to the acquisition of an eternal reward, although applause those praising them resound in the air, touching the very clouds and ether, from where they fall down again, like the rushing sound of a voice, ending with a noisy shaking in the larynx and not delivering any rewarding benefit to the soul, and also doing it very great harm. Praises are puffed up to the point of madness and, with their sweetness, they destroy in the deed that by which it deserved the reward. Teaching this, the Prophet said: “You are flattered by those who are blessed, and the paths of your feet are disturbed” (Is. 3:12), that is, they inspire an opinion about themselves that hinders success in good deeds. And the Lord, in His instructive speech, then forbidding doing good for show, says: “Let not your fool know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3), then commanding to do good, he adds: “Let your light be enlightened before men” (Matthew 5:16). For if “a city cannot hide itself from the top of a standing mountain” (Matthew 5:14), and “the path of the righteous shines like light” (cf. Proverbs 4:18), then why should beautiful works, which can soon shine by themselves, be publicly displayed, hastening to quickly make them visible and to please one’s ambition ahead of time? Whoever desires glory (which, however, is unreasonable), must wait for glory to follow the deed itself, and not precede it arbitrarily, trumpeting about what has been done and seeking the honor due for it. For He who said: “Let your light shine before men” - commanded the deed to cry out for itself, and not to proclaim it to those who do it, so that virtue would be glorious, and the intention would not be reproachful, having chosen good not for the sake of human glory, but for the sake of reward from God, if it has not reached that limit of perfection, so as not to have the need for the latter; because it is a holy thing to choose what is good not for the sake of anything else, but for the sake of the good itself. The latter state is characteristic of sons, and the first - of mercenaries; and although it is higher than the state of slaves, because slaves do everything out of fear of punishment, yet doing it not out of love for good, but in anticipation of a reward is lower than the state of sons. Whoever takes up a task with lust, considers this beloved task to be a pleasure, finding pleasure in the work itself and considering the very weariness for the sake of his beloved as reward and a primary reward. Everything done with love is easy and convenient, even if it is extremely difficult, because the disposition of the person doing it conceals the difficulty and equalizes the roughness for convenient execution. Diligence always overcomes the burdensomeness of work, becoming higher than all the inconveniences in the task, and the accompanying pleasure weakening the feeling of difficulty, so that work becomes more pleasant than labor, and imaginary inconvenience brings joy. And that the evil passions in many have been mortified and completely dead, the great Paul makes this clear, firstly, presenting himself as an example, and then prescribing to others the same thing in which he himself succeeded, and proving by experience that this is possible, because he has already done it. For he says: “I have been crucified with Christ: but no one lives” (Gal. 2:19-20); he calls reluctance to passions his death, and this mortification, to which he subjected himself, he prescribes to everyone: “Put to death your evils that are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, adultery, passion, evil lust” (cf. Col. 3:5). Just as by abstinence the inclinations of the body towards something similar are weakened, so by the mind its untimely aspirations are curbed. It is necessary, according to one external sage, not only to make the collar hard, but also to make the dog skinny, so that he can be drawn by pulling lightly, and not he himself, having strengthened himself, can be dragged wherever he wants. You might be interested in: