Mark the Ascetic - On the Spiritual Law 47-50

47. Every blessing comes from the Lord providentially. But this fact escapes the notice of the ungrateful and the idle.
48. Every vice leads in the end to forbidden pleasure; and every virtue to spiritual blessing. Each arouses what is akin to it.
49. Censure from men afflicts the heart; but if patiently accepted it generates purity.
50. Ignorance makes us reject what is beneficial; and when it becomes brazen it strengthens the hold of evil.