XVIII Self-Restraint

“Like a good shepherd it folds the sheep. It expels stupidity as though it were a fierce wolf, and prevents it from devouring the sheep one by one; but it constantly keeps an eye on such stupidity and reveals it to the intelligence, so that it cannot lie hidden in the moonless dark and infiltrate among our thoughts. 

Without self-restraint, should any good thing come to pass, it cannot be preserved; for without self-restraint the soul’s three powers are carried downwards towards stupidity. “

- peter of damaskos