St. Anthony of Egypt, The Great, Desert Father of Monasticism, c. 251 – 356 A.D.

A Coptic icon, showing, in the lower left,
St. Anthony with St. Paul the First Hermit

One should not say that it is impossible to reach a virtuous life; but one should say that it is not easy. Nor do those who have reached it find it easy to maintain. Those who are devout and whose intellect enjoys the love of God participate in the life of virtue; the ordinary intellect, however, is worldly and wavering, producing both good and evil thoughts, because it is changeful by nature and directed towards material things. But the intellect that enjoys the love of God punishes the evil which arises spontaneously because of man’s laziness.