'And this is what the flesh might say in reply: "I will
never tell you what you do not already know. I will speak the knowledge
we both have. Within me is my begetter, the love of self. The fire that
comes to me from outside is too much pampering and care. The fire
within me is past ease and things long done. I conceived and give birth
to sins, and they when born beget death by despair in their turn. And
yet if you have learned the sure and rooted weakness within both you and
me, you have manacled my hands. If you starve your longings, you have
bound my feet, and they can travel no further. If you have taken up the
yoke of obedience, you have cast my yoke aside. If you have taken
possession of humility, you have cut off my head."'
Matthew 26:41
Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.
