"Корени незахвалности леже у људској ненаситој жељи. Колико год човек да добије, све му је мало, не благодари, него ропће што није добио још више... А они ретки, који су увек и за све благодарни, добиће од Бога велику славу и част, велику благодат." Свети Лука Кримски

The devil doesn’t fear the fasting man as much as the repentant man —St John Chrysostom

To God, it is not what you are by nature that matters, because one person is naturally kind, and another is naturally evil. One's mother was a drunkard, and the other had a motorbike. And it's clear that these two mothers will raise very different children. And the Lord rewards the one who turns bad into good. Some say, 'I'm a good person.' So what? You were kind since childhood, and your mother was kind and brought you up that way. So, if you were as evil as a dog but became kind or if you became even half as evil, even though you remained much worse than the kind person, then you would be rewarded. Because you tried; you went from bad to better. And if you die the same as you were, there is no merit in it. Some say even at confession, 'I did not steal, I did not slander.' So what? If you were born in prison, your father and mother were corrupt, and as a result, you did not become a thief, then, you would have a reward. Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov

"Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts." St. John Chrystotom