On the Eight Evil Spirits · §8 · Evagrius Ponticus

The Scorn of Pride and the Safety of Humility

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…a worm. Why do you lift up your neck, which in a little while will rot? It is a great thing for a man to be helped by God; he was abandoned, and recognized the weakness of his nature. You have nothing which you did not receive from God; why then do you boast in another’s gift as your own? Why do you glory in God’s grace as your own possession? Recognize the Giver, and do not exalt yourself much; you are God’s creature, do not reject the Creator; helped by God, do not deny the Benefactor. You ascended to the height of a way of life, but He guided you; you accomplished virtue, but He worked it. Acknowledge the one who exalted you, so that you may remain firm in the height; recognize your fellow human, that he is of the same substance. Do not through arrogance deny the kinship.

Chapter 19. That one is humble and measured; but the same Creator fashioned both. Do not despise the humble; for he stands more securely than you; he walks upon the earth and does not fall quickly; but the lofty one, if he falls, will be shattered. A proud monk is a rootless tree, and will not withstand the assault of the wind. A walled city is an unpretentious mind, and he who dwells in it will be inviolate. A breeze lifts a straw, and the assault of madness lifts the proud; a bubble that has burst will vanish, and the memory of the proud perishes. The word of the humble is a poultice for the soul, but the word of the proud is full of arrogance. The prayer of the humble bends God toward him, but the petition of the proud provokes God. Humility is the crown of the house, and keeps the one who ascends safe. When you ascend to the height of virtues, then you have great need of security. For he who falls from the ground quickly rises, but he who falls from on high risks death. A precious stone shines in a setting of gold, and a man’s humility is brightened by many virtues.

Greek

σκώληξ. Τί τὸν αὐχένα ἐπαίρεις τὸν μετ' ὀλίγον σηπόμενον; Μέγα ἄνθρωπος βοηθούμενος παρὰ Θεοῦ· ἐγκατελείφθη, καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς ἐπέγνω τῆς φύσεως. Οὐδὲν ἔχεις, ὃ μὴ παρὰ Θεοῦ ἔλαβες· τί οὖν τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ ἐναμβλύνῃ ὡς σῷ; τί τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς ἰδίῳ κτήματι ἐγκαλλωπίζῃ; Ἐπίγνωθι τὸν δεδωκότα, καὶ μὴ ἐπαίρου πολύ· κτίσμα Θεοῦ εἶ, μὴ ἀθέτει τὸν Κτίσαντα· βοηθῇ παρὰ Θεοῦ, μὴ ἀρνοῦ τὸν εὐεργέτην. Εἰς ὕψος ἀνέβης πολιτείας, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος ὡδήγησε· κατώρθωσας ἀρετὴν, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος ἐνήργησεν. Ὁμολόγει τὸν ὑψώσαντα, ἵνα μείνῃς ἐν τῷ ὕψει βέβαιος· ἐπίγνωθι τὸν ὁμόφυλον, ὅτι τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστιν οὐσίας. Μὴ δι' ἀλαζονείας ἀρνοῦ τὴν συγγένειαν. ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΙΘʹ. Ταπεινὸς ἐκεῖνος, καὶ σύμμετρος· ἀλλ' ὁ αὐτὸς δημιουργὸς ἔπλασε τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους. Μὴ καταφρονήσῃς ταπεινοῦ· ἕστηκε γάρ σου ἀσφαλέστερος· ἐπὶ γῆς βαδίζει, καὶ οὐ πίπτει ταχέως· ὁ δὲ ὑψηλὸς, ἐὰν πέσῃ, συντριβήσεται. Ὑπερήφανος μοναχὸς δένδρον ἄῤῥιζον, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐνέγκῃ προσβολὴν ἀνέμου. Πόλις τετειχισμένη, ἄτυφον φρόνημα, καὶ ὁ ἐνοικῶν αὐτῇ ἄσυλος ἔσται. Μετεωρίζει κάρφος αὖρα ἀνέμου, καὶ ὑπερήφανον ἐπαίρει ἀπονοίας προσβολή· πομφόλυξ ῥαγεῖσα ἀφανισθήσεται, καὶ μνήμη ὑπερηφάνου ὄλλυται. Λόγος ταπεινοῦ μάλαγμα ψυχῆς, ὁ δὲ τοῦ ὑπερηφάνου ἀλαζονείας πεπλήρωται Προσευχὴ ταπεινοῦ ἐπικάμπτει Θεὸν, παροξύνει δὲ τὸν Θεὸν δέησις ὑπερηφάνου. Στέφανος δώματός ἐστιν ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη καὶ τὸν ἀνελθόντα τηρεῖ ἀσφαλῶς. Ὅταν ἀνέλθῃς εἰς τὸ τῶν ἀρετῶν ὕψος, τότε πολλή σοι χρεία τῆς ἀσφαλείας. Ὁ γὰρ πεσὼν ἀπ' ἐδάφους, ταχέως ἐγείρεται, ὁ δὲ πεσὼν ἀφ' ὑψηλοῦ, εἰς θάνατον κινδυνεύει. Λίθος τίμιος ἐμπρέπει σιαλώματι χρυσίου, καὶ πολλαῖς ἀρεταῖς φαιδρύνεται ταπείνωσις ἀνδρός. 7

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About this text

The original eight evil thoughts that became the seven deadly sins, and how each one attacks.

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345–399) was a Christian monk and ascetic born in Ibora in Pontus. He was ordained a reader by Basil of Caesarea and later a deacon by Gregory of Nazianzus, and he served as archdeacon in Constantinople during the Second Ecumenical Council in 381. He left the city for Jerusalem around 382 and became a monk, then spent his remaining years in the Egyptian desert at Nitria and Kellia, where he wrote extensively on asceticism.

This English is On the Eight Evil Spirits. It is not his treatise On Evil Thoughts, and it is not The Practice. It has one short chapter for each evil thought: gluttony, fornication, avarice, anger, sadness, acedia, vainglory, and pride. It belongs to Evagrius's larger effort to map the origins of evil thoughts and the physical experiences tied to them, and it was transmitted in some manuscripts under the name of Nilus of Ancyra. The Greek text survives in the Patrologia Graeca.

Each chapter consists mostly of short aphorisms, often set in pairs, with occasional longer paragraphs. The advice is filled with metaphorical imagery and is meant to be read slowly and contemplated.

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We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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