41. He also said: if you desire salvation, do everything that leads to it.

42. Abba Isaac of Thebes said to the brethren, "Do not bring children here; for five churches in the Skete were deserted by children.

43. Abba Longinus asked Abba Lucius about three thoughts, saying, "Do I want to wander?" The elder answered him, "If you do not restrain your tongue, you will not be a pilgrim wherever you go; but here hold your tongue and you will be a stranger. "Then I asked him: do I want to fast for two days? "Abba Lucius answers: the Prophet Isaiah said: If you sit down like a sickle, your neck will be... Below you will call the post pleasant. (58:5), — it is better to restrain your evil thoughts. Abba Longinus asked for the third time: do I want to flee from people? The elder answered: if you do not first learn to live well with people; then even in solitude you cannot live well.

44. Abba Macarius once came to Abba Pachomius of Tavennisia. The latter asked Abba Macarius: "There are brethren who do not submit to order—is it good to punish them?" Abba Macarius answered: punish and judge according to righteousness those who are subject to you; but do not judge any stranger, for it is said in the Scriptures, Do you not judge those who are within? But God judges those who are external (1 Corinthians 5:12, 13).

45. The brother asked Abba Macarius, "How can I be saved?" The elder answered him: be like a dead man: like the dead, think neither about offenses from people, nor about glory, and you will be saved.

46. Abba Macarius said: If we remember the evil inflicted on us by people, then our remembrance of God will weaken; but if we remember the evil inflicted by the demons, then we will be delivered from their wounds.

47. Abba Matoi said: Satan does not know by what passion the soul is conquered. He sows, but he does not know whether he will reap. He sows thoughts of fornication, backbiting, and other passions, and depending on the passion to which the soul shows itself inclined, it puts it.

48. It was told about Abba Peter, a disciple of Abba Silouan: when he lived in his cell on Mount Sinai, he governed himself with moderation in regard to bodily needs; but when he became a bishop in Pharan, he began to live much more strictly. His disciple said to him, 'Abba! When we were in the wilderness, you didn't live so strictly. The elder answered: there was a desert, silence and poverty, and I tried to hold my body so as not to exhaust me, and to have the strength to acquire what I did not have. And now we live in the world — there are many temptations here, and therefore I dry up my body, so as not to destroy the monk in me. If I happen to get sick here, then there is someone to help me.

49. The brother asked Abba Pimen, "Am I indignant and want to leave my place?" The elder said to him, 'For what reason?' "Because," answered the brother, "I hear words about a certain brother that are not edifying to me. The elder said to him: is what you have heard true? "Father," he answered, "the brother who told me is faithful!" The elder said to him, 'Not faithful,' for if he had been faithful, he would not have told you this. And God Himself, hearing the cry of the Sodomites, did not believe until He saw with His own eyes (Gen. 18:20, 21); So we don't always have to believe words. The brother said to him, "I have seen with my own eyes." "Hearing this, the elder sat down on the ground, and taking a small branch, said to him, 'What is this?' "A," answered his brother. Then the elder looked at the roof of the cell and said to him: "And what is this?" "A log," answered the brother. The elder said to him: put on your heart that your sins are like this beam, and your brother's sins are like this little bough. Abba Tiphoi, hearing such a word, was amazed and said, 'How shall I please you, Abba Pimen?' Thy words are precious stones, full of grace and all glory.

50. Abba Pimen said: In my opinion, a man who sins and acknowledges his sin and repents is better than a man who does not sin and does not humble himself. The one considers himself a sinner, and humbles himself in his thoughts, but this one presents himself as a righteous man, as if he were righteous, and is exalted.

51. Once the local presbyters came to the monastery where Abba Pimen was. Abba Anubius came to him and said, "Call here the presbyters." But Abba Pimen did not give him an answer, although he stood before him for a long time. Abba Anubius went out with sorrow. "Those who sat near the elder said to him: Abba, why did you not give him an answer? He left in disappointment. "Abba Pimen said to them: this does not concern me, I am dead, but the dead do not speak. Now, let them not think that I am here with them.

52. Once upon a time, a brother who lived not far from Abba Pimen went to another country. There he met a certain hermit, whom they loved very much, and many came to him. His brother told him about Abba Pimen. "Hearing about his virtue, the hermit wished to see him. After some time after the return of the brother to Egypt, the hermit also went from his country to Egypt to this very brother who was with him, for he had told him where he lived. "My brother, seeing him, was surprised, and very happy. The hermit said to him: show me love, take me to Abba Pimen. The brother, taking him, went to the elder, and spoke of him thus: he is a great man, he enjoys great love and respect in his country; I told him about you, and he came desiring to see you. "Then the hermit began to speak from the Scriptures about spiritual and heavenly things. But Abba Pimen turned his face away from him, and gave no answer. Seeing that the elder did not speak to him, he left him with sorrow, and said to the brother who had brought him: "In vain have I undertaken all this journey; I went to the elder for the sake of benefit, but he does not even want to talk to me! "The brother went to Abba Pimen and said to him: Abba, this great man, so famous in his country, has come for you — why did you not speak to him? The elder answered him, "He is from the highest," and speaks of heavenly things; but I am from the lowly, and I speak of earthly things (John 8:23; cf. 3:31). If he were to talk to me about the passions of the soul, I would answer him; but if he speaks of spiritual things, then I do not know this. Leaving him, the brother said to the hermit: "The elder does not suddenly speak from the Scriptures; but if anyone speaks to him about the passions of the soul, he answers him. "Crushed in himself, the hermit went up to the elder and said to him, 'What shall I do, Abba?' I am seized by the passions of the soul. The elder looked at him with joy, and said, "Now it is well that you have come; now open thy mouth, and I will fulfill their blessings. "The hermit, having received great edification, said: truly, this is the true path! And he returned to his own country, thanking God for vouchsafed him to see such a great man.

53. Abba Pimen said: What is the use of building someone else's house, and destroying your own?

54. And he said, "What is the use of going to the school of art and not learning it?"