Letters to Saint Olympia Quotes

“And this is the way of sin. For before one commits a sin, it makes the one it has captured drunk. But when its purpose is fulfilled and it is committed, then its pleasure vanishes and is extinguished; the sinner then stands naked and condemned, and his conscience plays he role of the public executioner. Tearing into pieces the one who has sinned, it demands the most extreme punishment, weighing him down more heavily than all the lead in the world.”
― John Chrysostom, Letters to Saint Olympia

“Therefore let nothing trouble you-neither anything that happens, nor anything that threatens to happen. For the waves do not violently shake the rock; rather, the more forcefully they dash upon it, the more they become dissipated. This is the way things work for the one standing firm; and indeed, there is a greater advantage. For the waves do not shake the rock; and they not only have not shaken you, but they have made you stronger. Such is wickedness, and such is virtue. The one, when attacked, is destroyed; while the other, when attacked, shines more brilliantly.”
― John Chrysostom, Letters to Saint Olympia