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Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 54: What is Self-love, and How Can the Lover of Self (Philautos) Recognise Himself?…
Many expressions are really a misuse of language, such as: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”2 Philautos then means he that loves himself. He recognises himself by seeing whether his actions, even if they be in accordance with the commandment, are done for his own sake. For to leave undone for the sake of one’s own rest anything needed by a brother, whether in soul or body, is clearly recognised even by others as having the wickedness of self-love, the end of which is destruction.
Notes
- 2 Cor. vii. 1.
- Ps. cxix. 53.