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Abba Matoes
1. Abba Matoes said, "I prefer a light and steady activity, to one that is painful at the beginning but is soon broken off."
2. He also said, "the nearer a man draws to God, the more he sees himself a sinner. It was when Isaiah the prophet saw God, that he declared himself "a man of unclean lips."
3. He also said, "When I was young, I would say to myself: perhaps one day I shall do something good; but now that I am old, I see that there is nothing good about me."
4. He also said, "Satan does not know by what passion the soul can be overcome. He sows, but without knowing if he will reap, sometimes thoughts of fornication, sometimes thoughts of slander, and similarly for the other passions. He supplies nourishment to the passion which he sees the soul is slipping towards."
5. A brother went to Abba Matoes and said to him, "How is it that the monks of Scetis did more than the Scriptures required in loving their enemies more than themselves?" Abba Matoes said to him, "As fro me I have not yet managed to love those who love me as I love myself."
6. A brother questioned Abba Matoes, "What ought I to do when a brother comes to see me and it is a fast day, or in the morning? This worries me." The old man said to him, "If you don't fuss about it and simply eat with the brother, that is all right, but if you are not expecting anyone and you eat, that is your own will."
7. Abba James said that he went to Abba Matoes' cell and when he left he said to him, "I want to go to the Cells." He said to me: ""Greet Abba John for me." So going to Abba John for me." So going to Abba John's cell. I said t him, "Abba Matoes greets you." The old man said to me, "Abba Matoes is an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile." A year later I returned to Abba Matoes and gave him Abba John's greeting. The old man said: "I am not worthy of what the old men said, but know this: whenever you hear an old man praising his neighbor more than himself, it is because he has reached a great stature: for this is perfection to praise one's neighbor more than oneself."
8. Abba Matoes said, "A brother came to me and said, "Slander is worse than fornication." I said to him, "This is a hard saying." He said to me "What do you mean?" I said to him, " Slander is bad, but it is soon healed, for he who slanders often repents, saying that he has spoken unkindly; but fornication is physical death."
9. Abba Matoes said that three old men went to Abba Paphnutius, he who is called cephalous, to ask a word of him. The old man said to them, "What do you want me to say to you? A spiritual word or a bodily word?" They said," A spiritual word." The old man said to them, "Go, and choose trials rather than quietness, dishonor rather than glory, and to give rather than to receive."
10. A brother said to Abba Matoes, "Give me a word." He said to him, "Restrain the spirit of controversy in yourself in everything, and weep, have compunction for the time is drawing near."
11. A brother questioned Abba Matoes saying, "What am I to do? My tongue makes me suffer, and every time I go among men, I cannot control it, but I condemn them in all the good they are doing and reproach them with it. What am I to do? The old man replied, "If you cannot contain yourself, flee into solitude. For this is a sickness. He who dwells with brethren must not be square, but round, so as to turn himself towards all." He went on, "It is not through virtue that I live in the midst of men are the strong ones."
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