To conquer the devil, with the Lord Himself aiding, could anyone who, longing for the saving precepts of God, has striven: to bow down the pride of his swollen mind, hateful to all; to curb avarice, the root of all evils; to bridle luxury, the enemy of good virtues; to soften envy, the foe of holy chastity; not to love even the pernicious gains of usury; not to burden with bribes justice, the guardian of peace; to shudder at the noxious contrivances of factions; to shun the inglorious and sometimes bloody ambition for undeserved honor; to restrain the incentives of discord, the curses of an insulting tongue; and no less lies, which stain life.
They wound the soul and destroy friendships; these things a Christian must drive away from his lips, and, through the love of the true God, must flee from all the superstitions of demons and the sacrilegious worship of idols, by which above all the loving-kindness of the Almighty is offended.