Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 12

I would advise even married men to treat their wives with dignity at home, not as servants face to face. Aristotle himself never permitted slaves to be joked with; how much more, then, must a wife appear affectionate toward her husband in their presence. It is better for those who begin from marriage to show dignity at home. The supreme union of chastity breathes forth pure pleasure. Tragedy puts it wonderfully: "Alas, alas, women! As if neither gold, nor tyranny, nor the indulgence of wealth could differentiate human pleasures as much as the judgment of a good man and a pious woman — a mind that is just and thinks rightly." These are the commands of justice, and they must not be rejected even when spoken by those who possess worldly wisdom.

Therefore, knowing each person's work, conduct the time of your sojourn in fear, knowing that you were redeemed from your futile conduct handed down from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:18–19). Peter says, "The time that has passed is enough for doing the will of the Gentiles, having walked in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry" (1 Peter 4:3). Let us make the cross of the Lord our boundary, by which we are crucified and hemmed in against our former sins. Having been born again, let us cleave to the truth; let us become sober and be sanctified, "for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (1 Peter 3:12). And who will harm us if we become zealous for what is good?

The best training is orderliness — complete decorum and established power, with each subsequent duty fitting well with the next, working toward good deeds, unsurpassed in virtue. If I have spoken somewhat roughly, managing the salvation of correction, these words were spoken to me, says the Pedagogue, since "the one who reproves with frankness makes peace." If you listen to me, you will be saved; if you do not pay attention to what has been said, it is no concern of mine — yet I do care, even so, for "the repentance of the sinner is chosen rather than death." "If you listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the earth," the Pedagogue says again, calling human goods good — beauty, wealth, health, strength, and nourishment; for truly good things are "what no ear has heard, nor has entered the human heart," concerning the truly existing King, the truly existing good things that exist and await us; for He is both giver and guardian of good things. But the things here named similarly are by a change of those things, the Word guiding human weakness from the senses to the intellect.