And because the
proportion of all that he giveth of his goods is very little in
respect of what he leaveth, therefore is the reason haply with some
folk little perceived. But if it were so that he went on giving
until he had given out all, and left himself nothing, then would
even a blind man see it. For as he would be come from riches to
poverty, so would he be willingly fallen from wealth into
tribulation. And in respect of labour and rest, the same would be
true. Whosoever can consider this, shall see that, in every good
deed done by the wealthy man, the matter is proportionately the
same.
Then, since we have somewhat weighed the virtues of prosperity, let
us consider on the other hand the afore-named things that are the
matter of merit and reward in tribulation--that is, patience,
conformity, and thanksgiving. Patience the wealthy man hath not, in
so far as he is wealthy. For if he be pinched in any point in which
he taketh patience, to that extent he suffereth some tribulation.
And so not by his prosperity but by his tribulation hath he that
merit. It is the same if we would say that the wealthy man hath
another virtue instead of patience--that is, the keeping of himself
from pride and such other sins as wealth would bring him to. For
the resisting of such motions is, as I before told you, without any
doubt a diminishing of fleshly wealth, and is a very true kind (and
one of the most profitable kinds) of tribulation.
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