The Holy Confessor Barlaam and Josaphat

"...which I now regret. I am sorry for it. I wish to acquire the eternal kingdom that the Christians preach. I believe I can get it in no other way than by becoming a Christian and renouncing the honor and glory of my kingdom, and the pleasures and joys of this life, all of which are cut off by death. I will seek the monks and hermits wherever they may be, those whom I previously persecuted, and join them. What do you say to this? What advice do you give me? Speak the whole truth freely, for I recognize you above all as a truthful and pious man."

The counselor did not understand the King's trick. His spirit was moved, and his eyes filled with tears. He gave the King this answer in all simplicity: "O King, live forever! You have found a good and wholesome counsel. Even though it is hard and difficult to find the way to the kingdom of heaven, one must seek it through virtue. For whoever seeks, finds what he looks for. The pleasure of these present things may give joy and courage, yet it is good to cast them away. They do not remain in their essence. Even if they bring much joy and delight, they give in return sevenfold sadness and displeasure. For their gods are nothing other than sadness, and are less than a shadow, or the wake of a ship passing over the sea, or the song of a bird that soon fades away. But the hope of things to come, as the Christians testify, is stiff and steadfast, even if they suffer persecution in this world. Temporal joy lasts a short time. In contrast, nothing is found from it but pain and eternal torment. For temporal sweetness is..."