with them, become forthwith impatient or slothful. For the way
of a man is not in himself,(1) but it is God's to give and to
console, when He will, and as much as He will, and whom He will,
as it shall please Him, and no further. Some who were
presumptuous because of the grace of devotion within them, have
destroyed themselves, because they would do more than they were
able, not considering the measure of their own littleness, but
rather following the impulse of the heart than the judgment of
the reason. And because they presumed beyond what was
well-pleasing unto God, therefore they quickly lost grace. They
became poor and were left vile, who had built for themselves
their nest in heaven; so that being humbled and stricken with
poverty, they might learn not to fly with their own wings, but
to put their trust under My feathers. They who are as yet new
and unskilled in the way of the Lord, unless they rule themselves
after the counsel of the wise, may easily be deceived and led
away.

3. "But if they wish to follow their own fancies rather than
trust the experience of others, the result will be very dangerous
to them if they still refuse to be drawn away from their own
notion. Those who are wise in their own conceits, seldom
patiently endure to be ruled by others. It is better to have a
small portion of wisdom with humility, and a slender
understanding, than great treasures of sciences with vain
self-esteem. It is better for thee to have less than much of
what may make thee proud. He doeth not very discreetly who
giveth up himself entirely to joy, forgetting his former
helplessness and the chaste fear of the Lord, which feareth to
lose the grace offered. Nor is he very wise, after a manly sort,