Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it. – George MacDonald
I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden. – Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666
Fasting cures diseases, dries up bodily humors, puts demons to flight, gets rid of impure thoughts, makes the mind clearer and the heart purer, the body sanctified, and raises man to the throne of God. – Athenaeus of Naucratis
