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FOR it is possible even for one who has no money to be by no means free
from the malady of covetousness, and for the blessing of penury to do him
no good, because he has not been able to root out the sin of cupidity:
delighting in the advantages of poverty, not in the merit of the virtue,
and satisfied with the burden of necessity, not without coldness of heart.
For just as the word of the gospel declares of those who are not defiled in
body, that they are adulterers in heart; so it is possible that those
who are in no way pressed down with the weight of money may be condemned
with the covetous in disposition and intent. For it was the opportunity of
possessing which was wanting in their case, and not the will for it: which
latter is always crowned by God, rather than compulsion. And so we must use
all diligence lest the fruits of our labours should be destroyed to no
purpose. For it is a wretched thing to have endured the effects of poverty
and want, but to have lost their fruits, through the fault of a shattered
will.
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