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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Sixth Chapter
UNBRIDLED AFFECTIONS
WHEN a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A proud and
avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble of heart lives in
a world of peace. An unmortified man is quickly tempted and overcome in small,
trifling evils; his spirit is weak, in a measure carnal and inclined to sensual
things; he can hardly abstain from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to
forego them; he is quick to anger if reproved. Yet if he satisfies his desires,
remorse of conscience overwhelms him because he followed his passions and they
did not lead to the peace he sought.
True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying
them. There is no peace in the carnal man, in the man given to vain attractions,
but there is peace in the fervent and spiritual man.
