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As in truth it is a greater miracle to root out from one's own flesh
the incentives to wantonness than to cast out unclean spirits from the
bodies of others, and it is a grander sign to restrain the fierce passions
of anger by the virtue of patience than to command the powers of the air,
and it is a greater thing to have shut out the devouring pangs of
gloominess from one's own heart than to have expelled the sickness of
another and the fever of his body. Finally it is in many ways a grander
virtue and a more splendid achievement to cure the weaknesses' of one's own
soul than those of the body of another. For just as the soul is higher than
the flesh, so is its salvation of more importance, and as its nature is
more precious and excellent, so is its destruction more grievous and
dangerous.
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