Concerning the Evils of Over-eating

Some said to a pious man who was stricken with fever: “Ask for some conserve of roses from such a one.”

“Oh, friend,” he replied, “it were better to die in bitterness than to endure the affliction of his sour face.”

A wise man does not eat conserve of roses from the hand of one whose face has been soured by pride.

Pursue not that which thy heart desires, for the pampering of the body destroys the fires of life.

The gluttonous man bears the weight of his corpulence; if he obtain not food, he bears the weight of grief. It is better that the stomach should be empty than the mind.