The Art of Spiritual Life

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Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 197-200

197. It is said that gold rules everything; but spiritual things are ruled by the grace of God.
198. A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other.
199. Jacob made for Joseph a coat of many colors (cf Gen. 37:3), and the Lord gives knowledge of truth to the gentle; as it is written, 'He will teach the gentle His ways' (Ps. 25:9. LXX).
200. Always do as much good as you can, and at a time of greater good do not turn to a lesser. For it is said that no man who turns back 'is fit for the kingdom of heaven' (cf. Luke 9:62).

Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 192-196

192. Peace is deliverance from the passions, and is not found except through the action of the Holy Spirit.
193. Fulfilling a commandment is one thing, and virtue is another, although each promotes the other.
194. Fulfilling a commandment means doing what we are enjoined to do; but virtue is to do it in a manner that conforms to the trath.
195. All material wealth is the same, but is acquired in many different ways; similarly, virtue is one, but is many- sided in its operations.
196. If someone makes a display of wisdom and instead of applying it talks at length, he has a spurious wealth and his labors 'come into the houses of strangers' (Prov. 5:10. LXX).

Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 187-191

187. He who does not choose to suffer for the sake of truth will be chastened more painfully by suffering he has not chosen.
188. He who knows God's will, and performs it according to his power, escapes more severe suffering by suffering a little.
189. If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he will become more entangled in them instead of driving them away.
190. The Lord is hidden in His own commandments, and He is to be found there in the measure that He is sought.
191. Do not say: 'I have fulfilled the commandments, but have not found the Lord'. For you have often found 'spiritual knowledge with righteousness', as Scripture says, 'and those who rightly seek Him shall find peace' (Prov. 16:8. LXX).

Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 180-186

180. No cloud is formed without a breath of wind: and no passion is born without a thought.
181. If we no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh, then with the Lord's help the evils within us will easily be eliminated.
182. Images already established in our intellect are more pernicious and stubborn than those which arise while we are thinking. The latter precede the former and are their cause.
183. One kind of evil dwells in the heart through long-contmued prepossession; another kind attacks our thoughts through the medium of everyday things.
184. God assesses our action according to our intention; for it is said that the Lord will 'reward you according to your heart' (Ps. 20:4).
185. He who does not persevere in examining his conscience will not endure bodily suffering for God's sake.
186. The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.