Глава 12. О том, что подвижнику не должно вдаваться в шутки
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It is necessary to refrain from all joking, since it happens to many who engage in this that they sin against sound reason when the soul is amused by laughter and loses composure and firmness of mind. And often this evil, growing gradually, ended in foul language and extreme outrage: sobriety of the soul and outpouring of playfulness are so incompatible with each other! If, in order to give yourself some weakness, you need to disperse gloominess through conversation, then let your word be filled with spiritual grace and seasoned with the salt of the Gospel, so that it pours out the fragrance of inwardly wise dispensation and doubly delights the listener: both with peace and the gift of understanding.
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