Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6 (Gregory Thaumaturgus)

Those who claim the past was better than the present fail to see that wisdom is vastly different from the mere accumulation of possessions. Wisdom is as much more lustrous than wealth as silver shines more brightly than its shadow. A man’s life gains its excellence not from perishable riches, but from wisdom.

Who can declare the providence of God, which is so great and beneficent? Who can recall the things God seems to have passed by? In the days of my own vanity, I considered all things and saw a righteous man continuing in his righteousness, and ceasing not from it until death, but even suffering injury by reason thereof, and a wicked man perishing with his wickedness.

It is fitting that a righteous man should not seem to be overly self-righteous or excessively wise, lest he commit a mistake and appear to sin many times over. Do not be audacious or impulsive, lest an untimely death surprise you. The greatest good is to take hold of God and, by abiding in Him, to avoid sinning. To touch undefiled things with an impure hand is an abomination. But he who submits himself in the fear of God escapes all that is contrary. Wisdom is more helpful than a band of the most powerful men in a city, and it often pardons those who fail in their duty, for there is no one who does not stumble.

You should not attend to the words of the impious, lest you become an ear-witness of words spoken against yourself—such as the foolish talk of a wicked servant—and, being stung in heart, resort to cursing in return. I have known these things, having received wisdom from God, which I eventually lost. Wisdom fled from me into a measureless deep, so that I could no longer grasp it. I abstained from seeking it further, and I stopped considering the vain counsels of the impious and their weary, distracted lives.

Caught in a fatal passion, I came to know woman—that she is like a snare. Her heart ensnares those who pass by; if she but joins hand to hand, she holds a man as securely as if he were bound in chains. From her, you can only secure deliverance by finding a watchful superintendent in God, for he who is enslaved by sin cannot otherwise escape its grasp. Among all women, I sought for true discretion, and I found it in none. A person may find one man of integrity in a thousand, but a woman never. I observed that while men were made by God with simple minds, they create for themselves manifold and infinite questions, and while professing to seek wisdom, they waste their lives in vain words.

CHAP. VIII.

Wisdom, when found in a man, shows itself in his face and makes his countenance shine. Conversely, impudence convicts the man in whom it dwells the moment he is seen. It is right to heed the words of a king and avoid oaths, especially those taken in God's name. It may be necessary to notice an evil word, but one must guard against blasphemy. It is not possible to fault God when He inflicts a penalty, nor to oppose the decrees of the Only Lord and King. It is better to abide by the holy commandments and keep apart from the words of the wicked. The wise man knows and discerns the judgment that shall come at the right time. All things await retribution from above, but the wicked man does not seem to know that, under a mighty providence, nothing in the future shall be hidden. He does not know what is to come, for no man can prevent the angel who takes his life, nor can any means be devised to cancel the appointed time of death.