76. And he said, "He is not a monk who complains about his lot; he is not a monk who returns evil for evil; He is not a monk who is angry.

77. And he said, "The power of God cannot dwell in a man who is given over to the passions."

78. And he said, "If we pursue tranquillity, it flees from us; but if we flee from it, it pursues us.

79. A brother came to Abba Pimen, and said to him, "I have many thoughts, but I am in danger from them." The elder took him out into the air and said to him: open your bosom and do not let the wind in! "I can't do that," answered my brother. "If you cannot do this," said the elder, "then you cannot hinder the thoughts that come to you; but it's up to you to resist them.

80. His brother also asked him, "I have been left an inheritance—what do you order me to do with it?" Abba Pimen answered him: "Go, in three days I will tell you." When the brother came, the elder said to him: "What shall I say to you, brother?" If I say, give your inheritance to the church, for they will have supper there. If I say, "Give it to your relatives," you will not be rewarded for it. If I say, Give to the poor, you will be grieved. So go and do what you will—I don't care about that."

81. Abba Pimen also said, "If the thought of the necessary needs for the body comes to you, and you fulfill it once, and it comes again another time, and you will fulfill it; then if he comes a third time, do not heed it, for this thought is empty.

82. The brother asked Abba Pimen, "If I see something that has happened, will you allow me to tell about it?" The elder answered: "The Scripture says: whoever declares the word before he hears it, foolishness is also reproach to him" (Proverbs 18:13). If they ask you, speak; and if they do not ask, be silent.

83. His brother asked him about laziness and carelessness. "Laziness," the elder told him, "arms itself against every good deed, and plunges people into carelessness. But if anyone recognizes its harm, and continues in good work, he is at peace.

84. Abba Pimen also said: "A certain man walks with an axe, works all day, and cannot cut down a tree; and the other, skilled in felling, felled a tree with a few blows. "He called prudence an axe.

85. And he said, "The will of man is a wall of brass between him and God." If a man leaves it, then he also says to David, "By my God I will cross the wall." My God, His way is blameless (Psalm 17:30, 31); when, that is, the righteousness of God is united with his will, then a person does. (cf. John 15:3-5).

86. A brother asks Abba Pimen, "Shall I live with my Abba?" I swallow my soul with him. The elder, seeing that he was suffering harm, wondered how he, receiving such harm, remained with the abba. And he said to him, "If you will, live." "Having left, my brother remained alive. Then he came to the elder again and said: "I suffer harm in my soul, living near my abba." Abba Pimen did not say to him, "Go away from him." "My brother comes for the third time and says, 'In truth, I no longer live with him.' The elder said to him: now you have been delivered from harm, go away, and no longer live with the abba. And then he says: if a man sees harm to his soul, and has the need to ask another, then the way asks about the innermost thoughts, — to test them is the duty of the elders; and there is no need to ask about obvious sins, but they must be cut off immediately.

87. Abba Abraham, a disciple of Abba Agathon, asked Abba Pimen: Why are the demons attacking me like this? "Are you being attacked by demons?" Abba Pimen said to him. It is not demons that attack us if we fulfill our desires, but our desires have become demons for us; they torment us so that we do them. If you want to know with whom the demons fought, it is with Moses and those like him.

88. Abba Pimen said: A brother asked Abba Moses, 'How can a man be dead in relation to his neighbor?' The abba said to him: if a man does not put it in his heart that he has been in the tomb for three years, he will not fulfill this word.

89. A brother asked Abba Pimen, "How should one sit in a cell?" The elder said to him: sitting in the cell on the outside consists of needlework, of eating once a day, in silence and teaching; and to sing in secret in a cell means to carry everywhere a reproach of oneself, wherever one goes, not to omit the hours of public service and cell prayers. If sometimes you happen to be without needlework, then go to the service, and pray without distraction. And in conclusion, hold fast to good company and shun evil company.