“Though man be immortal as to his soul, he is mortal as to his body, and the time which his soul shall spend in his body is of as great worth to him as the time which he shall spend without it.”

“Think not that by wilfully abandoning the body, even though you have the power and the knowledge to do so, you will escape from the state in which it has pleased God to put you.”

“Rather shall your pain and the time of your suffering be increased, because you have not done with the body that which the body shall do.”

“The life of the soul while it is in the body, has as much value as when it has left it.  You shall not shorten the time of dwelling in the flesh.”

“Though you know all things, you know not God.  For though you know your body which is in the world, and the world which is in time, and time which is in space, yet your knowledge goeth no farther, for space and all that therein is, is in God.[7]”

     [Footnote 7:  Hermes Trismegistus, Poemandres xi. 2.]

“You have learned earthly things and heavenly things.  Learn then that you shall not escape the laws of earth while you are on earth, nor the laws of heaven when you are in heaven.  Lift up your heart to God, but do in the body those things which are of the body.”

“There are other men put into the world besides you.  If you leave the world, what does your knowledge profit other men?  And yet it is to profit other men that God has put you into the world.”

“And not you only, but every man.  The labour of man is to man, and the labour of angels to angels.  But the time of man is as valuable in the sight of God, as the time of angels.”

“All things that are not accomplished in their time shall be left unaccomplished for ever and ever.  If while you are in the flesh, you accomplish not the things of the flesh after the manner of your humanity, you shall enter into the life of the spirit as one blind, or maimed; for your part is not fulfilled.”

“Wisdom is this.  A man shall not care for the things of the world for himself, and his soul shall be lifted and raised above all that is mean and perishable; but he shall perform his part without murmuring.  He shall not forget the perishable things, though he soar to the imperishable.”

“For man is to man as one portion of eternity to another; and as eternity would be imperfect if one moment could be removed, so also the earth would be imperfect if one man should be taken from it before his appointed time.”

“If a man therefore take himself out of the world, he causes imperfection, and sins against perfection, which is the law of God.”

“Though the world be in darkness, the darkness is necessary to the light.  Though the world perish, and heaven perish not for ever, yet is the perishable necessary to the eternal.”

“For the transitory and the unchangeable exist alike in eternity and are portions of it.  And one moment is as another, and there is no difference between one time and another time.”