But prosperity always puffs up the foolish,
and worldly comfort enervates the soul, rendering it an easy prey
to carnal temptations. Thus I, who by this time had come to regard
myself as the only philosopher remaining in the whole world, and
had ceased to fear any further disturbance of my peace, began to
loosen the rein on my desires, although hitherto I had always lived
in the utmost continence. And the greater progress I made in my
lecturing on philosophy or theology, the more I departed alike from
the practice of the philosophers and the spirit of the divines in
the uncleanness of my life. For it is well known, methinks, that
philosophers, and still more those who have devoted their lives to
arousing the love of sacred study, have been strong above all else
in the beauty of chastity.
Thus did it come to pass that while I was utterly absorbed in pride
and sensuality, divine grace, the cure for both diseases, was
forced upon me, even though I, forsooth, would fain have shunned
it. First was I punished for my sensuality, and then for my pride.
For my sensuality I lost those things whereby I practiced it; for
my pride, engendered in me by my knowledge of letters--and it is
even as the Apostle said: "Knowledge puffeth itself up" (I Cor.
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