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NOR must we emit the value of that command because even if we have
bound ourselves by some oath under the influence of anger or some other
passion, (a thing which ought never to be done by a monk) still the case
for each side should be weighed by a thorough judgment of the mind, and the
course on which we have determined should be compared to that which we are
urged to adopt, and we should without hesitation adopt that which on the
occurrence of sounder considerations is decided to be the best. For it is
better to put our promise on one side than to undergo the loss of something
good and more desirable. Finally we never remember that venerable and
approved fathers were hard and unyielding in decisions of this sort, but as
wax under the influence of heat, so they were modified by reason, and when
sounder counsels prevailed, did not hesitate to give in to the better side.
But those whom we have seen obstinately clinging to their determinations we
have always set down as unreasonable and wanting in judgment.
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