Self-love–that is, friendship for the body–is the source of evil in the soul….For the deiform (Godlike) soul to abandon the Creator and worship the body is an act of depravity.
You were commanded to keep the body as a servant, not to be unnaturally enslaved to its pleasures.
Break the bonds of your friendship for the body and give it only what is absolutely necessary.
Enclose your senses in the citadel of stillness so that they do not involve the intellect (nous) in their desires.
The greatest weapons of someone striving to lead a life of inward stillness are self-control, love, prayer and spiritual reading.
~St Thalassios the Libyan
