On perseverance: "All the labor of the time I have spent here does not yet equal a single hour of the eternal torments of hell. We should endure a little labor in this life so that in the future age we may find perpetual rest."

Abba Poemen: "Regard no one as nothing, condemn no one, speak ill of no one, and the Lord will give you rest."

Abba Sisoes: "I have fallen." "Rise." "I have risen and fallen again." "Rise again." He adds that a man is judged in the state in which he is found.

Against despair: A monk tormented for ten years was told by a heavenly voice that the very years in which he had fought would become his crown.

Abba Anthony: "Wherever you go, keep God before your eyes. In whatever work you do, take examples from the divine Scriptures. Wherever you dwell, do not move away quickly, but remain patiently there."

Abba Moses: "Go, sit in your cell. Your cell can teach you everything, if you remain there."

De perseverantia: "Omnis labor totius temporis quo hic dego nondum unius horae tormentorum aeternorum gehennae spatium habet ... ut inveniamus in illo futuro ac aeterno saeculo perpetuam requiem."

Abbas Poemen: "Neminem pro nihilo aspicias, nullum condemnes, nulli detrahas, et dabit tibi Dominus requiem."

Abbas Sisoes: "Quid faciam, Pater, quoniam cecidi?" "Surge." "Exsurrexi; et iterum cecidi." "Et iterum surge."

Contra desperationem: Monachus per annos decem tentatus audivit vocem dicentem illos annos, quibus certaverat, futurae esse coronae suae.

Abbas Antonius: "Quocumque vadis, Deum semper habeto prae oculis tuis ... et in quocumque loco resederis, ne inde citus movearis."

Abbas Moyses: "Vade, et sede in cella tua. Cella autem tua omnia te potest instruere, si ibi permanseris."